First complete edition, in the original Latin, of one of the most famous and longest of De Thou's poems, a didactic verse in about 2780 hexameters devoted to hunting with falcons and other birds of prey, composed in three "libri" and addressed to François, Duke of Alençon, Anjou and Brabant (1555-1584), the youngest son of the late King Henri II and Catherine de' Medici, and brother of the reigning King Henri III. It is the first major Latin work on the subject of falconry. Book 1 discusses the various kinds of birds of prey used in falconry and how to choose one, book 2 discusses their care and feeding, training and the practice of hunting with them, and book 3 discusses their medical care. De Thou (1553-1617), not yet thirty when he first published the present poem, is now considered "the most important historian of the French Renaissance".
The poem ends on p. 95, with the next page containing an "important" (Harting) note about the various kinds of birds of prey used for falconry and giving their French and Latin names. The last six leaves contain Thou's 11-page letter to Philippe Huralt (1528-1599), French chancellor under King Henri III, on the subject of falconry, and on the last page the corrigenda. The preliminaries contain laudatory verses by Scévole de Sainte-Martin and Pierre Pithou. Falconry was so popular in France from the reign of François I to that of Louis XIII that it can be considered the national pastime of the French nobility, as well as the prominent clergy, military figures and politicians in that period, 1515-1643.
Formerly side-stitched through 4 holes, visible in the gutter margin, the paper slightly wrinkled, B1 and B4 no longer conjugate but still securely attached, a faint marginal stain in the lower outside corner of the last few leaves and the foot of the title-page slightly thumbed, but still in very good condition and with large margins. The outer free endleaf at front and back slightly browned, but the binding also very good. The important first complete edition of a classic of falconry and a lovely piece of book production. Adams T657; Harting, Bibl. accipitraria 306; Kinser, Works of Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1966), 7 (pp. 205-207); Souhart, col. 461; Thiébaud, col. 897; USTC 171837; cf. Schwerdt, p. 261 (1582 & 1587 eds.).