L'École de la chasse aux chiens courans, par Mr Le Verrier de la Conterie, ecuyer, d'Amigny, les Aulnets, &c. Précédée d'une Bibliothèque historique & critique des Théreuticographes. Première [-seconde] partie

Two parts in one volume, 8vo (199x115 mm). [2], VIII, 396, 14 engraved (of music: Tons de chasse et fanfares) pp. and [16] woodcut plates (13 folding and 3 full-page plates between ll. F3-F4 of the first part: Noms des parties de la tête); CCXXVI, [2] pp. Collation: π1 *4 A-F2 [π]3 F3-Aa8 Bb6 [π]7; a-o8 p2. The two parts of the volume are inverted as compared to the majority of the copies recorded in the main bibliographies, and so are the collation and pagination. With a woodcut vignette on the title pages, woodcut initials and head- and tail-pieces. Modern vellum with manuscript title on the spine, red upper edge. Slightly uniformly browned. A good copy.
Rare first edition of “this instructive book [which] ranks with the classics on hunting [...]” (Schwerdt). The first part of the work is dedicated to the hunting of hare, stag, wild boar, wolf and otter; it then follows a dictionary of hunting terms and, at the end, an appendix of hunting signals and fanfares with 14 final sheets of engraved music. The 13 folding plates show the hunting game and tracks. The second work contains the detailed and annotated Bibliothèque historique & critique des théreuticographes compiled by the publishers Nicolas and Richard Lallemant. It covers hunting literature from Xenophon to the 18th-century, and is supplemented by a subject index at the end.
This work is considered the hunting bible; reprinted many times, it is still an authority in the field. It is the result of more than forty years of experience. Le Verrier de La Conterie (1718-1783), equerry to the King, was lord of Amigny, des Aulnets and other places in the province of Normandy.
OCLC, 498149838; Italian Union Catalogue, TO0E\084882, TO0E\084883; Catalogue générale Bnf, FRBNF41219525; Brunet, III, 1036; Cohen-Ricci, 644; Sotheby's Monaco, Bibliothèque Marcel Jeanson. Première partie chasse, 1987, no. 344; J. Thiébaud, Bibliographie des ouvrages français sur la chasse, 589; Souhart, 298-299 (“ouvrage classique par excellence”); Schwerdt, I, p. 313.