Paris. Salon. May 12–June 1879, no. 327 (as "La dépêche").

Youngstown, Ohio. location unknown. "(AFA circulating exhibition)," 1919.

Charlottesville. University of Virginia. "(AFA circulating exhibition)," 1919.

Richmond. location unknown. "(AFA circulating exhibition)," 1919.

Fort Worth. Carnegie Public Library. "(AFA circulating exhibition)," 1920.

New York. Century Association. "Virtuosity in Painting: Works by Fortuny, Boldini, Domingo, Blum, Chase & Others," January 12–27, 1935, no. 4.

Wilmington, N. C. Wilmington WPA Museum of Art. "Paintings by Old Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 2–May 4, 1941, no. 1.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 17.

Padua. Palazzo Zabarella. "Boldini," January 15–June 12, 2005, no. 51.

Rome. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna. "Boldini," June 23–September 25, 2005, no. 51.

Williamstown, Mass. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. "Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris," February 14–April 25, 2010, no. 19 (as "The Dispatch Bearer").

Arthur Baignères. « Le Salon de 1879 (Premier article) », Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 19 (June 1879), p. 572, comments that it is "le fac-similé fait art".

J.-K. Huysmans. "Le Salon de 1879." Le Voltaire (June 10, 1879) [reprinted in Huysmans, "L'Art moderne," Paris, 1883, p. 52].

The Art Treasures of America. reprint, 1977. New York, 1879, vol. 2, p. 128; vol. 3, pp. 110–11, ill., calls it "Delivering the Dispatch" and "Bearer of Dispatches" in the Fiske collection; remarks that it is "a direct challenge to Meissonier".

B[ryson]. B[urroughs]. "Bequest of the Late Mrs. Martha T. Fiske Collord." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 3 (November 1908).

Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, p. 302, ill.

[Emilia] Cardona [Boldini]. Boldini nel suo tempo. Milan, 1951, p. 73, as "Portalettere a cavallo".

Carlo L. Ragghianti Ettore Camesasca in L'opera completa di Boldini. Milan, 1970, p. 96, no. 64, ill., calls it "Dragone e Portinaio (La staffetta; Il portaordini)"; notes that a reproduction of this painting appeared in the Revue illustrée of 1887; remarks that Boldini considered it one of the best paintings from his first years in Paris.

Bianca Doria. Giovanni Boldini: catalogo generale dagli archivi Boldini. Milan, 2000, vol. 1, colorpl. 120; vol. 2, unpaginated, no. 120, ill., calls it "La staffetta" and dates it 1879.

Piero Dini and Francesca Dini. "Catalogo ragionato della pittura a olio con un'ampia selezione di pastelli e acquerelli." Giovanni Boldini, 1842–1931: Catalogo ragionato. 3, Turin, 2002, part 1, pp. 156–57, no. 274, ill.

Piero Dini and Francesca Dini. "La Vita e l'iter-artistico." Giovanni Boldini, 1842–1931: Catalogo Ragionato. 1, Turin, 2002, p. 171.

Rossella Campana in Boldini. Exh. cat., Palazzo Zabarella, Padua. Venice, 2005, pp. 158–59, no. 51, ill. (color).

Francesca Dini in Boldini. Exh. cat., Palazzo Zabarella, Padua. Venice, 2005, p. 28.

Barbara Guidi in Sarah Lees. Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris. Exh. cat., Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara. Williamstown, 2009, p. 106, notes that this picture marks a stylistic turning point in Boldini's art and "presages the affinity for seventeenth-century Dutch and Spanish painting that would characterize his work in the decade to come".

Sarah Lees. Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris. Exh. cat., Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara. Williamstown, 2009, pp. 38–42, 48, 51, 65 nn. 68–70, p. 204, colorpl. 19, dates it about 1879; comments that the theme of this picture is looking, emphasized by the two pairs of eyeglasses in the optician's shop behind the horseman; notes that it was the first painting exhibited by Boldini at the Paris Salon; discusses the influence of Meissonier, Fortuny, Degas, and Caillebotte on this picture.