VILLE (Antoine de).

Lot 72
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Estimation :
1000 - 1500 EUR
VILLE (Antoine de).
The Fortifications, containing the way to fortify all kinds of places [...]. With the ataque [sic], and the means to take the places by intelligence, sedition, surprise, stratagem, climbing... Lyon, Philippe Borde, 1640. in-folio, half vellum with corners, smooth spine, title on the spine, red speckled edges (18th century Italian binding). Colson, pp. 69-71. - Marini, pp. 75-77. - Cockle, n°831. Third edition of this important treatise on fortification, "the most complete, the most instructive and the most erudite of the first works of this kind published in France" according to Marini. It is decorated with a beautiful frontispiece in the form of a portico drawn and engraved by Antoine de Ville himself, dated 1641, a portrait of the author engraved by Jérôme David after Artemisia Gentileschi, and 53 numbered plates, 10 of which are folding, drawn and engraved by the author. Antoine de Ville (1596-1658) was one of the main representatives of the French school of fortifications. An expert in the art of fortification, this military engineer was in turn in the service of the Prince of Savoy, the Republic of Venice and Cardinal Richelieu. Under the orders of the latter, he inspected the towns of the Oise when the Spaniards were about to invade Picardy, and in November 1636, participated in the recapture of the town of Corbie. His treatise on fortification was first published in 1628. Small marginal paper loss on folio BB1. Some foxing, irregular printing sometimes pale.
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