IO 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
that he hath do kill all the cats that come thither to kill his pigeons, and do afterwards bury 
them, and do it with so much care that they shall be quite covered, that if the tip of their tail 
hangs out, he will take up the cat again and dig the hole deeper, which is very strange : and he 
tells me that he do believe he hath killed a hundred cats.” A dog of this breed would fetch a 
fabulous price nowadays. 
Further extracts would fall flat after this ; so with Pepys for a bonne bouche, and only a 
passing reference to Dickens’ introductory chapter to “ Barnaby Rudge,” we will pass on at once 
from allusions to pigeons in general English literature, to the few remarks it seems desirable to 
make upon those writers who have specially treated the subject. 
The first of these — at least the first of whom any record now remains — was John Moore, who 
published in 1735 “The Columbarium.” This work is now very scarce, only two or three copies 
being known to be in existence; but it can be seen in the British Museum. Moore was an 
apothecary, described as living “ at the ‘ Pestle and Mortar,’ in Lawrence Poultney’s Lane, the first 
great gates on the left hand from Cannon Street, who formerly lived at the ‘ Pestle and Mortar’ in 
Abchurch Lane, London.” His book contains some sixty pages ; and it is remarkable, and no 
small testimony to the accurate knowledge of the author, that it not only formed the basis of 
nearly every other work since published, but that his descriptions are found generally accurate even 
at the present day, with the exception that most points are now somewhat more developed, so that 
the Carrier’s face, for instance, is now longer than Moore described it. There are, however, no 
directions in Moore in regard to matching for breeding ; some observations on the general 
management of pigeons and mere descriptions of the varieties then known making up his work. 
It is also to be noticed that in this early work the Almond Tumbler is dismissed with a brief 
description of a few lines. 
Moore, as his book shows, was evidently an educated man ; and even his prescriptions for 
diseases, though most of them are now discarded, are fully abreast of the general medical 
knowledge of the time. He was a celebrated character in more ways than one, being, as appears, 
the proprietor and inventor of a worm-powder which had great success and notoriety. It was in 
this character that Pope addressed to him ten stanzas of verses, by no means uncomplimentary in 
expression, if indeed they may not be taken to show almost a personal acquaintance and friendship. 
One of these stanzas is somewhat too coarse for quotation, but another — the last but one of the 
ten — was transcribed by the “Gentleman’s Magazine” in the following short notice of Moore’s 
death, which is by this brief obituary record fixed as occurring in 1737, only two years after the 
publication of his work. “April 12, Mr. John Moor, of Abchurch Lane, the noted worm 
doctor. He will now shortly verify Mr. Pope’s witty observations, viz. : — 
‘ O learned friend of Abchurch Lane, 
Who sett’st our entrails free, 
Vain is thy art, thy powder vain. 
Since worms shall eat e’en thee.’ ” 
Next to Pope’s “ learned friend ” — a style of address which may occasion some curious 
comparisons — comes the unknown author, or rather editor, of “ A Treatise on Domestic Pigeons,” 
published by C. Barry, Fenchurch Street, London, in 1765. We call him the editor, because his 
“Treatise” is chiefly a reprint of Moore, without acknowledgment. His work is dedicated to 
John Mayor, Esq., and is therefore quoted by Eaton, in his reprint of Moore, as “Mayor.” It has 
thirteen wood engravings, which Moore had omitted, stating that as he found good “icons” (by 
which queer name he calls them) would cost more than he could afford, he vyould not employ bad 
