( 1523 - 1572 )
In folio (352 x 240 mm). [4], 139, [1] ff. Printer device on title page and on last page. With 115 woodcuts (44 full page, 15 double page); 31 pages contain woodcuts illustrations of battle formations; 9 large ornamental heads, some other ornaments and numerous woodcut initials. Contemporary full parchment binding with golden title on the back. Water stains on title page and on several papers and some burnishing but overall nice copy. First edition of this collection of five early works on military architecture and fortification edited by Girolamo Maggi (c1523-72), a writer from Anghiari, Arezzo. The principal author is Giacomo Castriotto (born Iacopo Fusto (1510-63), a military architect from Urbino with long experience of warfare in Italy and France. His treatise on the fortified towns in France was based on his own experience in constructing redoubts for the French government. Castriotto's concept of a new system of communications with ring-roads and of a central square featuring a public building anticipates modern town planning. Page 52 contains a full-page illustration of an ideal town. Included are Francesco Montemellino's observations on the fortifications of Rome which had been criticized by Castriotto. The treatise by Giovacchino da Coniano is illustated with letter diagrams showing battle formations, cavalry and cannon. The printer's dedications are to Count Eugenio Sinclitico, governor of Cyprus, and to Philip II of Spain. Cf. D'Ayala 90, 105-6; Berlin Katalog 3511; Breman 196; Cockle 772; Jähns 819; Jordan 2280; Manzi 60; Mortimer 266; Promis 295-311; Riccardi I, 299-300; Spaulding & Karpinsky no37 & plate 4 (1584 reprint). SEE ILLUSTRATION. Bookseller Inventory # 5358
