Hunting Book of Gaston Phebus Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, MS Fr. 616, Manuscripts in Miniature Ser.

This edition comprises 87 miniatures of early 15th century Parisian book illuminations in facsimile form, with wide decorative borders, floriated initials, and Gothic script. The French text, written in the 1380s by Gaston Phebus, Count of Foix, contains not only technical details about the practice of huntsmanship in the 14th-century, but also descriptions of the wild animals which were then hunted. The particular manuscript on which this text is based is dated 1405-10.;The facsimile of the entire Phebus manuscript is followed by an introduction and commentary. The former identifies the various owners of the manuscript throughout its history and analyzes the complex links between this and related manuscripts. It also discusses the attribution of hands and the methods adopted by the artists responsible for the scenes and backgrounds of the miniatures. The commentary then summarizes the contents of each chapter of the text, relating it to the imagery of the miniatures.