Guicennas

Guicennas was a German knight and falconer in the service the Emperor Frederick II . The anonymous north Italian author of a Latin treatise on hunting deer with bows, , cites Guicennas as his source. So indebted to him are its contents that the text's incipit (words marking the start) and explicit (words marking the end) describe it as his work: , book of Guicennas.

Life In the introduction of , Guicennas is described as a German knight , lord and "master in every kind of hunting by the testimony of the hunters of Lord Frederick, emperor of the Romans" .

The exact relationship of Guicennas to the treatise which bears his name is a matter of disagreement. Kurt Lindner regards him as the author, while Tilander considers him only the "inspirer". All stop abruptly in the middle of the fourteenth section. The text is of interest to Romance philologists for its terms derived from the Romance languages.

Manuscripts The four manuscripts that preserve the text are:

Chantilly, Musée Condé, Lat. 368, folios 99v–105r (Milan, 1459) New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, MS 127, folios 73r–75v (14th century) Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica, Vat. lat. 5366, folios 75v–78v (late 13th century) Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica, Reg. lat. 1227, folios 66v–70 (15th century)

All but perhaps the Yale manuscript appear to be the product of Italian scribes. Reg. lat. 1227 was copied from the Chantilly manuscript. The Yale manuscript is a poor copy. The best manuscript is either the Chantilly manuscript or Vat. lat. 5366. Lindner's edition uses the latter as a base text, while Tilander opts for the Chantilly. Lindner translated into German and Tilander into French.

The Chantilly manuscript contains a series of miniature of dogs in training, but none in the act of hunting.

Editions