NORTH AMERICAN FALCONRY AND HUNTING HAWKS. By Frank Lyman Beebe and Harold Melvin Webster.

(1964) 1970 2nd printing. Large 4to (220 x 286mm). Ppxii,316 + 1pp ads. Many full-page colour plates, b/w plates, illustrations, bibliography. Cream linen, green and gilt falcon head design on black roundel to upper board, spine titled in green and gilt on black cloth.

The bible of North American falconry. "No library on this continent has a really comprehensive modern work on falconry. [We] eventually came to the conclusion that right here was really the great single obstacle to public and official acceptance of falconry in North America today. The obstacle was ignorance, ignorance compounded by the fact that accurate information on the subject was so utterly lacking." The authors aimed to fill this gap with a comprehensive, practical, scientifically sound work which would match the classics of the field for solidity, scope, as well as the quality and quantity of its illustrations. Beebe and Webster not only succeeded in their aim, they regularly updated, revised and expanded this book which more than anything else, has formed the foundation of North American falconry. This 1970 second printing is a facsimile of the first edition. Swift states that 1,000 copies were printed. It has become quite scarce.