Maltese Dog (1838)

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DESCRIPTION OF MALTA AND GOZO
by George Percy Badger
Malta: Printing and Lithography by M. Weiss
1838

Pg. 59:
   The race of Maltese dogs, so much renowned in Europe, and called _bichons_ by Buffon in his Natural History, is now nearly extinct.  They are very small, with long glistening hair reaching down to the feet, a face covered with the same, and a turned-up nose.  I acknowledge that I can see but very little beauty in these dwarfish creatures, and am led to think it is only their rarity which fixes their value at so high a price; they are sometimes sold for forty dollars.

(The revised OED has 1860.  I was asked about this in Malta...WHERE ARE TEN OF MY BOOKS!  IT'S BEEN FOUR HOURS!  I DIDN'T MAKE THIS TRIP JUST FOR MALTESE DOGS AND ESPRESSO!--ed.)