''The Hound of Florence: A Novel'' (german: link=no, Der Hund von Florenz) is a 1923 novel written by

Felix Salten Felix Salten (; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austro-Hungarian author and literary critic in Vienna. Life and death Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann on 6 September 1869 in Pest, Austria-Hungary. His father was Fülöp Salzmann, t ...

. It is best known today for partly inspiring the 1959

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

film '' The Shaggy Dog'', as well as sequels and remakes. The novel was first translated into English in 1930 by Huntley Paterson, and the translation has illustrations by

Kurt Wiese Kurt Wiese (April 22, 1887 – May 27, 1974) was a German-born book illustrator, who wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors. Background Kurt Wiese was born on April 22, 1887, in Minden, Germ ...

Plot

''The Hound of Florence'' is an adventure story for young readers, set in early eighteenth-century

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The adolescent Lukas Grassi has lost his parents and lives in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in great poverty, longs for his native Italy, and would like to study art in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. By magic, his wish is granted, but every other day he must take the form of a dog, Kambyses, that belongs to the Archduke Ludwig; and alternating daily between human and canine form, he travels from Vienna to Florence along with the Archduke's troops, and there has to lead a unique double life. This is the only book of Salten in which supernatural elements occur, and they may show influence of E. T. A. Hoffmann. The ending of the book differs greatly in the original language and in the English translation. The German-language version ends in

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

: the archduke stabs the dog to death with a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

, killing Lukas, and his body is disposed of. In the English translation, a wholly new ending of six more pages has been written: Lukas survives, gets medication and is united with the

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...

. Currently it is not known if the alternate ending is authorized.

Background

The book has some "overtly" autobiographical background. In the 1890s the journalist Salten had become a friend and confidant of the Austrian archduke Leopold Ferdinand, and in his novel Salten makes use of his experiences with the archduke and his brothers. He carried the material for twenty-five years before he dared to write the story. In 1907 he mentioned to

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

that he was then about to finish the manuscript. However it was not until 1921 when the manuscript was completed. Certain recurring motifs in Salten's œuvre appear also in this book: the deep cleavage between the very rich and the very poor, and the critique of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

. According to Salten's biographer Beverley Driver Eddy, the strength of ''The Hound of Florence'' lies in the depiction of the dog Kambyses – a "brilliant portrayal of a dog's character." Salten himself was a passionate dog lover and kept dogs most of his life. ''The Hound of Florence'' is written as one piece. There are no chapter divisions. However, the 1920s German-language editions, set in

Fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the curves of the Antiqu ...

, use an embellished dash to divide the text into large sections. A 1980s edition uses asterisks for that purpose.

Availability

In the German-language area, ''The Hound of Florence'' was Salten’s second biggest success, only surpassed by ''Bambi'', with three editions (1923, 1928, 1944) during the lifetime of the author, and several reprints since then. Since 1930, the English-language edition of ''The Hound of Florence'' was out of print for a long time. Only in 2014 was a new edition published, this time illustrated by Richard Cowdrey, using the alternate ending. The novel was translated into French in 1952. The

Finnish-language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...

edition from 2016 includes both endings.

Film adaptations

The novel was the inspiration for the films '' The Shaggy Dog'' (1959), '' The Shaggy D.A.'' (1976), ''

The Return of the Shaggy Dog ''The Return of the Shaggy Dog'' is a 1987 American two-part made-for-television comedy film produced by Walt Disney Television. The film is set in the 17 years between the events portrayed in '' The Shaggy Dog'' (1959) and ''The Shaggy D.A.'' ( ...

'' (1987), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (1993), and '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006).

References

External links

* in German language. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hound of Florence, The Novels by Felix Salten 1923 German-language novels Austrian novels Austrian novels adapted into films Anthropomorphic dogs Fictional shapeshifters Novels set in the 18th century Novels set in Vienna Novels set in Florence Fiction with alternate endings Novels about dogs