Martinez de Espinar, Alonso
First edition, arguably the most famous Spanish book on hunting, and certainly one of the most beautifully illustrated ones, by Juan de Noort. A “rare classic on Spanish hunting which was written at the period when the crossbow was giving way to the musket. The work is of interest to falconers and the last of the three books into which it is divided contains fifteen chapters on falcons” (Schwerdt).
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“These extracts will serve to show the hawks known to falconers in Spain, and the Spanish names for them. Many of these names introduced by the Moors into Spain, and thence carried into France, are derived from the Arabic” (Harting). The work is divided in three parts: the first deals with types of hunting, weapons used, horses, bloodhounds; the second part deals with animal behavior, techniques, etc., finally the third part deals with game birds, including falcons.
The illustrated is by Juan de Noort, a famed illustrator active in Spain in the first half of the 17th century; it is composed of a fine allegorical title page, a portrait of Prince Balthasar Carlos, a portrait of the author, and five remarkable full-page hunting scenes
Schwerdt, II, p. 16: “rare classic on Spanish hunting”; Palau, 154967 : “precioso libro”; Maggs, Spanish Books, cat. 495, 1927, n° 583; Jeanson, 1286 (cat.) & 399 (Monaco, 1987).
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