The Hound of Florence

Cover of the American edition.
Author	Felix Salten
Original title	Der Hund von Florenz
Translator	Huntley Paterson
Illustrator	Kurt Wiese
Country	Austria
Language	German
Genre	novel
Publisher	Simon and Schuster
Publication date	1923
Published in English	1930
Pages	237
OCLC	1826868

The Hound of Florence: A Novel (German: Der Hund von Florenz) is a 1923 novel written by Felix Salten. It is best known today for partly inspiring the 1959 Walt Disney Pictures film, The Shaggy Dog, as well as a sequel and remakes. The novel was first translated into English in 1930 by Huntley Paterson, and the translation has illustrations by Kurt Wiese.

The Hound of Florence is an adventure story for young readers, set in early eighteenth-century Austria and Italy. The adolescent Lukas Grassi has lost his parents and lives in Vienna in great poverty, longs for his native Italy, and would like to study art in Florence. 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 book has some "overtly" autobiographical background. In 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 Arthur Schnitzler that he was then about to finish the manuscript. However it was not until 1921 when the manuscript was completed.

Certain recurring motifs in Saltens œuvre appear also in this book: the deep cleavage between the very rich and the very poor, and the critique of the nobility.

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.