Il Falconiere.

4to. 2 parts in one volume. (34), 50, (18), 223 pp. With engraved frontispiece, title vignette, portrait, and 9 vignettes. Contemporary vellum. Author's presentation copy, later in the Harting library. First Italian edition, including the Latin original and another instructional poem by P. A. Bargeo. "First and best Italian edition of de Thou's famous Latin poem on hawking with an Italian translation" (Schwerdt). - The famous statesman and bibliophile J. A. de Thou (1553-1617) was a great enthusiast of falconry. His poem, in hexameters, is based on his own observations; it was written during the author's travels through France, Italy, and Germany. Among the nine engraved vignettes are four large falconry-themed headpieces. The portrait shows Cardinal de Beauveau (engraved by R. Pozzi after A. David). Finely printed in two columns on untrimmed laid papier. - Provenance: James Edmund Harting (engraved armorial bookplate to front pastedown), "ex dono Auctoris" (contemporary ink inscription to first title). - Some waterstaining and foxing. - Harting 284. Schwerdt p. 261. Thi baud 898 ("Belle dition").