The 18th century book A Treatise on Modern Falconry is still one of the most quoted books in today's falconry community. The preface was possibly written by a Rev. A. Willis, ridicules The Origin and Progress of Language," a publication shortly before his writing this book. The introduction to this book gives a historical account of the development of falconry from its beginnings long before the 9th century in the middle East to its apparent decline at the invention of the hunting gun. It also includes interesting facts about the practice of falconry in Persia and Hindostan, where falconry became (and in some parts of the Middle East still is) a sport and pastime of the upper classes.