GHEYN, Jacob de

by Jacob de Gheyn

£12,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

Very rare compact edition, in three parts of [Jacob de Gheyn s] Wapen-handelinghe van roers, musquetten, en spiessen ESTC. In this edition the engravings have been very finely reworked from the original as woodcuts, and the text is in French, Dutch, German and English. The work has a complex publishing history, with various Dutch, German, English, French and Danish editions appearing in Amsterdam and The Hague from 1607. Jacob de Gheyn s Exercise of Armes was an immense success. It is a fascinating seventeenth-century military manual, designed to instruct contemporary soldiers how to handle arms effectively, and correctly, and it makes for a unique glimpse into warfare as waged in the Thirty Years and the English Civil Wars. The manual uses illustrations to clearly demonstrate drills for soldiers employing calivers and muskets. It shows how to load and fire, or merely carry, a matchlock piece. In addition detailed illustrations show the various movements and postures to be adopted during use of the pike. There are 117 very fine woodcut illustrations. Gheyn s famous illustrated work was designed specifically for practical use on the muster ground. As well as profoundly changing military practice in Europe, the book also provided motifs for several kinds of decorative art. The Delft factories produced a series of tiles based on the engravings and at Clifton Hall in Nottinghamshire the designs were used for paintings on the panelling. Johann II, Count of Nassau-Siegen is often s

• Binding: Hardcover

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