CHENU Jean-Charles La Fauconnerie ancienne et moderne.

Not in Frank; Thiébaud, 192; Souhart, 100; Schwerdt, I, 109.

First edition of this classic of falconry published as a supplement to the second volume of Leçons élémentaires sur l’histoire naturelle des oiseaux, published the same year.

This very important treatise begins with a history of the art of bird training in Europe, Asia and Arabia, followed by descriptions of the different species of birds of prey suitable for this exercise. A very large section is then devoted to the training of the different species, followed by the treatment of diseases. The work concludes with an important dictionary of the falconer’s technical terms.

The illustrations show various kinds of falcons, as well as their training and typical flight paths, sometimes displaying specific parts of the birds’ bodies like wings and claws in detail. Figure no. 5 (“Faucon sur une Gazelle”) is copied from the plate of “Goshawk and Gazelle” by Joseph Wolf, which forms the frontispiece to Richard F. Burton’s 1852 work “Falconry in the Valley of the Indus“.

An exceptional copy

Illustrated with 45 numbered vignettes in the text, this deluxe copy contains the 15 illustrations, exclusively devoted to falcons, finely coloured by hand. Thiébaud notes that “il existe des exemplaires, assez rares d’ailleurs, avec les figures coloriées”.

A fine copy, well preserved.

Provenance: Paul Lebaudy (bookplate) – Hubert Lebaudy (bookplate)