1 6o BOOKS ON FAL CONR V. 



No. 154 of the Scelfa di Curiosita Letterarie inedite rare dal 

 secolo xiii. al xvii. It is divided into 210 short chapters (two 

 others being wanting), several of them consisting of three or four 

 lines only, and begins : — " Qui se comenza le nature de li falconi, 

 astori, e sparavieri, le sue cure de tute infirmitade como se pono 

 sanare." It would seem to have been derived from the Persian 

 through an unpubhshed Latin translation ; perhaps copied 

 originally from one made for the Emperor Frederick IL, at 

 whose request, on his return from the Crusades, several transla- 

 tions from Persian and Arabic MSS. were undertaken by his 

 physician and secretary. Regarding its origin and date of com- 

 position, Prof. Ferraro says : — " Le crociate ponendo 1' Occidente 

 in contatto coll' Oriente, avevano quest' arte rinfocolata. I 

 Persiani, i Turchi, gli Indiani conosciuti in essa maestri, furono 

 invitati a venire in Europa, e si tradussero le opere che intorno 

 alia falconeria avevano scritte, nelle lingue romanze che allora 

 sorgevano. Una di essa sembrami appunto la presente, nella 

 quale non solo si cita un Re Danchi o Danco, Indiano, ricordato 

 da altri libri trattanti di simile materia; ma si parla altresi di 

 alcuni principi che al nome sembrano Tartari, regnanti ai tempi 

 di Marco Polo in Persia, ed il traduttore o 1' autore del libro 

 chiamasi anche Persiano" (Prefazione, p. 7). 



Mention is made of a physician Gatepio (p. 27) ; of Chaicham 

 or Chaican, a King of Persia (pp. 28, 47, 55); and of one Cluay 

 (P- 35)> who, it is suggested, may have been one of the Tartar 

 princes who reigned in Persia in the time of Marco Polo. 



Scattered throughout the treatise are Persian names for hawks 

 and for the maladies to which they are liable — a subject which 

 occupies the greater portion of the work. 



At p. 12 of his Prefazione Prof. Ferraro alludes to the works 

 of Raimondi (No. 277) and " Chippa." This should be Crippa; 

 Bonaventura Crippa, Trattato della Caccia (2da ed. Milano, 1834, 

 i2mo, pp. 311). It treats generally of the chase in 4 sections, 

 viz., (i) origin of hunting; chase of the bear, wolf, fox, &c. ; (2) 

 chase of land birds ; (3) of water birds ; (4) dogs used for the 

 chase. In the 2nd section, cap. 2 is entitled Delf arte della 

 Falconeria, and cap. 3 Ammaestraviento del Falcone praticate degli 

 Antichi. Reprinted at Milan, 1871. 



