DE CANIBUS: DOG AND HOUND IN ANTIQUITY. By R.H.A. Merlen, M.R.C.V.S.

1971 1st edition. 8vo (145 x 222mm). Pp168. B/w photograph plates and illustrations. Red-brown boards, spine titled in gilt.

"The decline of letters which set in after the fourth century A.D. led to nothing being written on the subject of the dog and hound for almost exactly a thousand years and one of the objects of the book is to try and fill in this wide gap in canine history. In addition, an endeavour has been made to trace the descent of some of the modern breeds of sporting dogs back to their ancient forebears, and at the same time an occasional glance has been directed at the diseases to which the flesh of dogs has always been unfortunately heir. The horse may be Man's noblest friend but he does not usually find a place beside his master's hearth; the dog, however, has always done so and hence it comes about that in following his history through the centuries aforesaid we obtain a considerable amount of interesting information as to what life must really have been like in what are so well called the 'Dark Ages'." Chapters include:- Egypt and Assyria; Biblical times in Palestine; Ancient Greece; Rome; Kennel-management in the Roman Empire - rabies and hydrophobia; Greek and Roman dog-lore; Ancient Ireland; The Dark Ages; The dog in Wales in the Tenth century; The forest laws; The dog and the Norsemen - dog-lore at the end of the Middle Ages; Les deduitz de la chasse des bestes sauvaiges; Conclusion.