L`Artiglieria ... divisa in tre libri

Venice: G Guerrigli a Spese dell' Autore, 1621. First Edition.. Full contemporary vellum.. A very good bright copy; backstrip with a later overlay; text block split after the first signature; natural paper flaw to the lower fore corner of plate 3 touching the engraved surface; scattered spotting; recased at an earlier date.. Folio, [12], [1] - 142 pp. There is an engraved title with a portrait of the author, 18 large text engravings and 9 engraved plates.

Sardi claimed to have completed 38 yrs. of study and military service throughout Europe. He had traveled in France, Holland, Germany, and Spain and was in imperial service in Brussels in 1600. There he was responsible for the design of the hydraulic system for the garden of the Coudenberg palace. He is remembered for the publication of his Corona Imperiale .... - a tract on fortification published in 1618. But shortly thereafter he had printed the important treatise on artillery and gun founding offered here. The book is divided in three sections. The first section treats the history of ballistics, the second is an account of the geometric principles and design of cannon and the testing of brass castings. The third section is devoted to the design and construction of gun-mounts, wheel carriages, the use of gun-powder ( this section was excerpted and reprinted by Stubbes in the UK in 1670 ), and rules of ballistics; other chapters offer various designs for naval cannon and the use of same in the defense of ports against warships. Later chapters are devoted to the use the use of cannon in the defense of Alpine passes. The treatise benefits from generous and handsomely executed illustrations of the principles and designs set forth. An important book. The book was recased at an earlier date and the vellum covered boards somewhat amateurishly rebacked; but still an appealing copy. Cockle # 688; Millard, Ital. Arch., pp. 381 - 384; Riccardi II, 423. see Breman for the author and commentary; the same for Schutte.