WHITEHORNE, Peter

by Peter Whitehorne

£7,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

The very rare and important first edition of Whitehorne s seminal treatise on warfare, the first Englishman to write on the subject. This is the second part of STC 17164, Machiavelli's The Arte of Warre translated by Whitehorne, with its own title; "Certain waies for the orderyng of souldiers in battelray" has separate title page (within woodcut border), foliation, and register. ESTC. Cockle catalogues the two works separately. Owing, perhaps to having been brought out merely as a supplement to the Art of war, Whitehorne s book has almost been lost sight of as a separate work. It supplies information on the subjects not treated by Machiavelli, that is to say, on fortification, and the manner of making gunpowder, saltpetre, fireworks, etc. This information is collected chiefly from Italian writers; nevertheless Whitehorne must be allowed the honour of being the first Englishman to write on these subjects, though, as regards fireworks , it is Bourne to whom the credit is usually given. There is an interesting chapter on signalling, based on the actual systems of Aeneas, Tacitus and Polybius. Cockle. The method many would-be reformers used to suggest improvements in training was the military book, which became increasingly popular in England during the 1570s and 1580s. The first influential military book of the Elizabethan period, Peter Whitehorne s Certain waies for the orderyng of souldiers in battelray was printed in 1560. (sic). The work, which accompanied Whitehorne s trans

• Binding: Hardcover

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