Professional Documents
Culture Documents
the $multi-thousands. O
offerings for every budget, from $5 to position in St. Louis, MO led him to a meet coordinator for local club meets.
falconer Henry Kendall who also was In 1977, The North American Falconers
JOHN R. SWIFT, CURATOR • KENT CARNIE, CURATOR EMERITUS • DAVID WELLS, ADMINISTRATOR
THE A RCHIVES OF FALCONRY, THE P EREGRINE F UND’S WORLD CENTER FOR BIRDS OF P REY
5668 W. F LYING H AWK LANE , B OISE , I DAHO 83709 • PHONE 208.362.8256 • EMAIL TAF@PEREGRINEFUND.ORG
New Curator (continued) John is able to provide leadership even
Update
Association asked the CHC to co-host though he does not live in Boise. David
the November field meet, with John Wells is the full-time on-site manager We have received sad news of the recent
serving as meet chairman. They agreed, and Kent maintains an office. There deaths of two prominent falconers, Kent
on the condition that the meet would are numerous falconers working at The Christopher of Idaho and Tony Robert-
become non-competitive — a tradition Peregrine Fund should specific falcon- son of California. We extend our sym-
that continues today. John also imple- ry assistance be needed. pathies and invite family and friends to
mented the fund-raising raffle as well attend our March “Rendezvous” 2009,
as the meet art print that is still in use John is currently preparing a new bib- when both men will be honored with
after 28 years. liography of falconry books, entitled plaques at the Wall of Remembrance.
Bibliotheca Accipitraria II after the 1891
While in Denver, John became ac- reference work by falconer/author James In the last issue of this newsletter, in
quainted with Barrie Watson, a falconry Edmund Harting. After 20 years’ prepa- the article on the Wall of Remem-
bookseller, who helped John find many ration, John’s bibliography is nearing brance, we neglected to mention an
elusive and rare books. Unable to fly a completion and will be published later important feature, that names on the
hawk while working in San Pedro, Cal- this year as the fourth volume in the Ar- plaques are not restricted to U.S. citizens.
ifornia, John met Natalie Nicholson, chives Heritage Series. The reference Any deceased falconer may be honored
another bookseller, and his personal work will list more than 600 titles and by contributions from friends and fam-
collection further expanded. be illustrated with art work depicting ily regardless of nationality.
rare and unusual books in the Archives
In 1991 the Swift family submitted a vid- as well as books in other institutions. Thus, we are pleased to report that Ned-
eo to America’s Funniest Home Videos™ erlands Valkeniersverbond “Adriaan Mol-
and won the grand prize of $100,000. As a master falconer, John plans to fly len” has pledged funds to sponsor the first
the YMCA. O
Their lives as well as The Archives of hawks again after his retirement from
Pieters. O
non-U.S. plaque in memory of J. H. M.
Falconry would be changed forever. By
making his book collection a charitable
donation, John was able to preserve his Recent Acquisition
cash prize and significantly increase John Swift donated a Sterling
the depth and quality of the Archives’ silver ring used by Sir Anthony
book collection. Since this initial do- Mildmay (1549-1617), whose
nation, John has continued to add new family was prominent during
and rare falconry titles. The Archives the Tudor period. The 3/8”
of Falconry now houses the most ex- ring is probably a band that was
tensive collection of English-language wrapped around the hawk’s leg
falconry books in the world. and soldered closed, which Sir
Thomas Sherley calls “garters for hawks.” It
Over the years, John’s work at the Ar- is inscribed with the owner’s name to aid in
chives grew such that he was recognized recovery of a lost bird. It joins the Freeman
by the organization as the logical choice varvel and the Thornton Silver Tea Urn as
Guess Who?
(2nd in a series...)