PISTOFILO, Bonaventura. Oplomachia. Nella quale con dottrina morale, politica, e militare, e col mezzo delle figure si tratta per via di teoriea, e di pratica del maneggio, e dell'uso delle Armi. Distinta in tre discorsi di Picca, d'Alabarda, e di Moschetto. Siena, H. [and A.] Gori, 1621 Obl. 4to. Bound in very fine 19th century full crushed red morocco by FRS. BEDFORD, with richly gilt, ribbed spine, both covers panelled with gilt corner ornaments and triple fillet borders, gilt inside borders and double fillet border around edges of covers, marbled endpapers, a.e.g. With engr. title, portrait of the dedicatee Sir Kenelm Digby, portrait of the author and 54 full-p. engr. ills. within letterpress borders, woodcut initials. (8), 315 [= 319], (1) pp.
Attractive copy of an important, richly illustrated treatise on the management of the pike (with 34 plates), the halberd (4 plates) and the musket (15 plates). 53 plates show a a total of 125 figures of soldiers in various positions, 1 plate indicates 4 different scales.
Very fine, attractively bound copy from the libraries of Baron Horace de Landau and V. de Gobbis, with their bookplates on upper pastedown/first free endpaper.- (P. 55 with printing flaw affecting a few words).
Thimm p. 226 (with ills. of the portrait of the author and the title-p.); Cockle 742; Gelli 161-2; Lipperheide 2073; cf. En Garde 31, listing a similar publication by Pistofilo, published in 1627.