In this hard cover book is the story told of the origin of all the crested breeds ever in the world for as far as they are documented.
The cover needed a revamp because it did not cover the content.
The book is a especially for nerdy intellectuals who value good historical research in broad perspective.
Next to Sultan, with extended breed description, there are relationships between them, I explain them all by region and/or history.
Mentioned are: Siberian fowl, Burma bantam, Ptarmigan, Houdan, Crève Coeur, Polish, Padua, Hamburg (were crested and five toes and feather legged!), Pavlovskaya, the extinct Swiss Sultan ‘Schleierhuhn’, Brabant fowl, Owlbeards, Breda, La Flèche, and nondescript crested breeds from 15 and 1600s thanks to the productive Flemish and Dutch painters of the time.
All these breeds are illustrated.
I’ve translated a lot of ancient German and Latin documents. This is unique to the English language chicken world, unless you read these languages yourself and found the old manuscripts in museums. The texts are funny too, although they were utterly serious at the time.
Just like in the Brahma book the origin of the Asiatics is told, in this book the origin is told of the landraces.
It is a bit intellectual, but written in Donald Duck language.
I’ve genotyped a lot of chickens on 17th century paintings, this is interesting for the origin of the colours of the crested breeds. I had permission from Dutch museums to use old paintings and museum the Mauritshuis in The Hague has a copy of the book so they understand what chickens are depicted on the paintings in their collection.
I have been working on this book for a year full time, doing research and translating a lot unlocking the knowledge for the English speaking world for the first time. Contacted museums in Germany, Switzerland, Italy for the codas mentioned in research but the codas themselves are not published on internet. Most old manuscripts are digitised but not always accessible.
Next to the above, Paul Fox, UK (who checked the book as editor) did research on Ms. Elizabeth Watts the woman who introduced the Sultan in the UK Fancy and all the dirty tricks that were played at the time, so the situation in 1854 when the Sultan was shown for the first time, Watts role in the Fancy and on how the Fancy in the UK was, and he pointed me on the position of women who had chickens in that time. Therefore I’ve done research too on that and made a chapter of it, 19th century Victorian time chicken breeding women. The Sultan book is ‘force feeding’ you with historical cultural chicken knowledge too 😉
Next to the Brahma book, the Sultan book is much broader than only the breed. The situation in the world is discussed too, like the Crimean War when the Sultan fowl was presented as the newest iphone. On means of transport at the time you find some too, the steamers and the sanitairy conditions the population had to endure causing cholera. There were plenty of hardships to cope with, still chickens were bred, breeds developped, it is amazing if you think about it..
Due to thorough research I found ‘Sultans’ were everywhere, there is an astonishing painting of a ‘Sultan’ from the Dutch painter Van Aelst from 1658, see on the left. This painting is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Holland. The creature ‘chicken’ is part of world history, our histories are interwoven.
SULTAN OF 1658…
Still life with fowl, by Willem van Aelst, 1658
Two dead roosters, a water rail, and a kingfisher hang from cords upside down above a marble slab. Are the flies on them painted, or real? Willem van Aelst not only imitated what he saw, but also transformed it into an elegant composition. The subtle grey, violet, and blue hues make this a special painting, which was already a sought-after collector’s item in its own time.
If you want to see it better or download and print this painting go to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam here.
Now it is time to scroll a lot!
Below are pages of the Sultan and other spectacular crested breeds book
in random order.
And a few more pages of the Sultan book…
Do you want to learn more about the origin of all crested breeds and how todays breeds are all related to each other? Do you want to know more about the Sultan breed as the ultimate fusion breed of all crested breeds? Then buy the Sultan book!
The History of all crested breeds including The Sultan Book – Hardcover
Beautifully printed hardcover book, 224 pages full colour, 500+ unique historical engravings, paintings and photos, packed with knowledge on the history of all crested breeds as there are: Crève Coeur, Houdan, Polish, Padua, Brabant, and the Sultans. A must have for any crested fan.
I sign your book with soft pencil.
This hard cover book is €75 plus €2 bookwrap so it will arrive undamaged.
Postage Europe: €12,95 registered
Postage to the rest of the world €25,00 registered.
The History of all crested breeds incl. The Sultan Book hard cover
Incl. postage €99,99
World (US, Australia etc)
The History of all crested breeds incl. The Sultan Book hard cover
Incl. postage €89,95
Europe & UK
Consider using iban/bic bank payment when you are in €-zone. Email me for bank payment. When you are in the United States of America, I have a USD {$) normal bank account at Wise, I can send you a pay-link.
Thank you for reading!
