De re Militari (Latin: Concerning Military Matters) Libri Quatuor

By Flavius Vegetius Renatus ~ FL.Vegetii Renati Viri

De re Militari (Latin "Concerning Military Matters") Libri Quatuor. Sextus Julius Frontini viri consularis de stragematis libri totidem; Aelianus: de instruendis aciebus liber unus; Modesti vocabulis rei militaris liber item unus. Item picturae bellicae CXX passim Vegetio adiectae. Collata sunt omnia ad antiquos codices, maxime Budaei quod testabitur Aelianus. - (Angebunden:) Valturius, Robertus: De re militari libri XII multo emaculatius, ac picturis, quae plurimae in eo sunt, elegantioribus expressum, quam cum Veronae inter initia artis chalcographicae, anno MDXXXIII (1532)

Paris: Christianum Wechelum, 1532, First Wechel Edition. SmFolio, (8), 279, (1, woodcut device)pp., Woodcut illustration on title of a military council, verso with full-page woodcut of a man loading a canon, woodcut of a lansquenet facing the first page of text and repeated at the end of the text. 119 full-page wood-cuts, one half-page wood-cut diagram, decorative wood-cut initials, typographic illustrations in the text depicting military maneuvers, 16th Century full calf covers with the later supralibros in gilt of Petrus de Villars Cardinal Archbishop of Austria and an ink inscription on the title page noting it is from his library. Wechel’s device in wood-cut at rear. A Rare and Complete copy of an important publication related to Medieval Military armament, strategies, early wook-cut techniques, 3-dimensional paraline elevation oblique representations, printing, type-setting and typography.

A Near Fine folio copy with some leaves untrimmed; occasional very light foxing in margins. First Edition of this version. Fairfax notes: “120 full-page cuts of military engines & c… several resembling those in Valturius but evidently adapted mostly in reverse from the edition of Erfurt 1511. Among the more remarkable cuts, not represented in the Valturius, are pneumatic beds, similar boots for walking in the water, diving dresses, improved firearms, and ‘armoured train’, impenetrable footwear, etc. These illustrations are among the most interesting and unusual wood-cuts of the period. Also of interest, and passed over by Updike, is the use of type to show military formations, again creating an almost surreal look to the page. Originally a treatise of Roman warfare and military principles written in the late Roman Empire, and a presentation of methods and practices in use during the height of Rome’s power, this also became an important military guide in the Middle Ages.

A rare book and important book in unusually well preserved condition. Only two copies have been sold at auction in the past 13 years. —Harvard French 486. Not in Brunet but see V. 1162 for the 1534 edition. Not in Fairfax Murray French, but see 563 for the 1535 edition.