The Le livre du Roy Modus et de la Royne Racio, attributed to Henri de Ferrières, is one of the most important medieval works on sport; it was used by all subsequent English and continental writers on the chase. Composed between 1354 and 1376, the full text of the work is divided into two parts: the first deals with the chase, and the second is an allegorical discussion of the animals of the hunt. It includes explicit directions for hunting all sorts of game animals, as well as chapters on falconry and bird snaring. The work is in the form of a dialogue in which Roy Modus (King Method) replies to questions about hunting from his apprentices. He divides prey into two groups, according to certain criteria. Five animals are classified as sweet (douce) and four as stinking (puant). The sweet ones--the stag, the hind, the fallow and roe deer, and the hare--do not have a foul odor, their pelts have a pleasing (amiable) color, either blond or tawny, and they do not bite. The four stinking animals bite; they include the boar, the wolf, the fox, and the otter.
Exhibition History:
Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)
Subject Terms:
Hunting -- Early works to 1800. | Falconry -- Early works to 1800. | Fowling -- Early works to 1800. | Riviere & Son -- Bookbinder. | Lamoignon, Chrétien-François de, 1735–1789 -- Provenance. | Shirley, Evelyn Philip, 1812–1882 -- Provenance.