SCHNAUZER

The Schnauzer is the bearded sentinel of the German farmstead. Its name comes from the German word Schnauze, meaning muzzle, a nod to the bristling whiskers and brows that give the breed its unmistakable, almost human expression. For centuries it stood guard over the farms and market carts of Bavaria and Württemberg, a ratter and watchman as dependable as it was proud.

It is one of the oldest working breeds of the German-speaking world, and the old masters knew it well: a Schnauzer-type dog appears in the works of Dürer and Rembrandt, and one sits at the feet of the night watchman in the celebrated seventeenth-century statue of Stuttgart. From the medieval marketplace to the modern city apartment, the Schnauzer has kept its two great gifts: a sharp, watchful mind and a face that seems perpetually, wisely amused.

The Schnauzer edition celebrates that character. An oatmeal linen cover, the breed's dense black-and-silver coat and signature beard rendered through extreme macro photography, every wiry hair and soft whisker caught in exquisite detail, the dark eyes alert beneath their famous brows. A book as characterful, upright, and quietly witty as the dog itself.