Tensini Francesco (1579-1638) - La fortificatione guardia difesa et espugnatione delle fortezze esperimentata in diverse guerre - 1624

Description

Book dimensions 34x27 cm, binding in soft parchment with handwritten title on the spine, rear endpapers. -- cc. 7 nn., pp. 83, pp. 83, pp. 128. Magnificent engraved frontispiece by Filippo Sadeler, missing the author's portrait after the frontispiece, probably rebound without it, as many cited copies are, but otherwise complete with the fine copperplate engravings by O. Fialetti, depicting battles, fortresses, military instruments, etc. A distinguished work and one of the finest illustrated books of 17th-century Italy, containing the best knowledge of fortifications at the time. The author, Francesco Tensini (1579-1638), native of Crema, was one of the greatest military engineers of his era, rich in practice and culture. He was brutally murdered, likely out of envy for his remarkable ingenuity. This is a splendid first edition, 1624; the editions of 1630 and 1655 only differ in the frontispiece, with changed dates and printers, achieved by scraping the copperplate. Very rare, not listed in the bibliographies below, to which we refer for comparison: Bm. Stc XVII Cent. Italian, Gamba, Cokle, Choix, Piantanida, Pollak, and Michel-Michel. Complete with all engravings, all numbered; the first is dated 1624 and signed by Odoardo Fialetti, Bologna painter and etcher, student of G.B. Cremonini, who studied in Venice under Tintoretto. A beautiful copy with a small, shallow stain affecting some pages; the engravings are well printed, and the binding in fine condition with nervures in the parchment. * Riccardi II 515; * Marini p.71; * Manzi 'Architects and Military Engineers' no. 119; * Dayala p.123.[f72].


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