THE ART OF FORTIFICATION, OR ARCHITECTURE MILITAIRE.

Amsterdam: for M. John Johnson, 1638.. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION 1638, divided into two parts, reviewed augmented and corrected by Albert Girard, Mathematician... & translated out of the French into English by Henry Hexam. 4to, approximately 280 x 190 mm, 11 x 7½ inches, 40 numbered double page plates, but 42 in total as there are 2 extra plates numbered "2e, 14" and "2e, 17", engraved title page which is from the Amsterdam Dutch edition of 1627 with printed cancel slip of title and date pasted over the original printing, this is the same as the Sotheby's Macclesfield copy (see note below). Pages: [4], 1- 44 to first Part; 1- 48 pages to 2nd Part, followed by a double page-table, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, handsomely rebound in full panel calf, heavy gilt decoration to spine, raised bands, gilt lettered maroon label, new endpapers, the collation is the same as in Cockle. Lower margin of engraved title page trimmed off with slight loss to image, pale staining to upper and lower margins throughout, just affecting some images, a few lower margins have small closed tears neatly repaired, page 24 has 2 small repairs to upper margin, not affecting text, plates slightly dusty, minor tiny ink spots to a few pages, repaired closed tear to centre fold of plate 17, no loss to images, pale staining to centre fold and sligtly dusty and grubby to last plate No.40 (see image), all text pages have strong horizontal crease, old ink name scribbled out on upper margin of title page, not affecting image, neat old ink name of previous owner and small partially erased pale private library stamp on the blank side of title page, a few tiny nicks to margins. A good copy with pale staining. For though in several of the earlier books in English on the military art in general there are chapters or sections devoted to this branch, these notices, at best, are fragmentary. Marolois' treatise describes the Dutch system, and has a table showing the dimensions of a fortification. See: Maurice J. D. Cockle, A Bibliography of Military Books up to 1641, page 111, reference 139: "the first work on fortification printed in English in which the subject is treated scientifically"; Sotheby's, The Library of the Earls of Macclesfield part 10, page 234, No. 3640; Sotheby's, The Cottesloe Military Library, page 143, No. 301; Laurence Hall Fowler, The Fowler Architectural Collection of the John Hopkins University, pages 159-160; Spaulding and Karpinski, Early Military Books in the University of Michigan Libraries, page 12, No. 93 and 94; ESTC S101439, listing 4 copies. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE. FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.