TENSINI, Francesco (b. circa 1581). La Fortificazione guardia difesa et espugnatione delle fortezze. Venice: Evangelista Deuchino, 1624. 2° (377 x 260mm). Engraved title within an elaborate architectural surround, full-page engraved portrait of Tensini, 48 etched plates by Odoardo Fialetti 11 folding. (Title shaved and scuffed at upper margin, title and two following leaves strengthened at upper margin, some light staining to upper blank margins.) Old marbled boards (rebacked in vellum.) Provenance : numerous manuscript notes and corrections in a single 17th-century hand, one entry dated 1640 (see p. 41). FIRST EDITION this influential work on fortification. Three further editions were published during the 17th century: 1630, 1655 (4°) and a Turin edition in 1674. The manuscript notes are clearly written by an individual with military experience in the 80 years war between Spain and the United Provinces (1568-1648). 16th-century Dutch fortifications owed much to Italian bastion design, and in particular the work of Donati de Boni. However, the 80 years war caused the Dutch to radically improve all their fortifications - coastal, river, and land - throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The author of the annotations would have seen in action in the Netherlands in the 1640's some of the most advanced and successful fortifactions in Europe at that time. The plates by Fialetti have a refreshing freedom which is unusual for military manuals of this era. Cockle 813 (incorrect plate count).
TENSINI, Francesco (b. circa 1581). La Fortificazione guardia difesa et espugnatione delle fortezze. Venice: Evangelista Deuchino, 1624. 2° (377 x 260mm). Engraved title within an elaborate architectural surround, full-page engraved portrait of Tensini, 48 etched plates by Odoardo Fialetti 11 folding. (Title shaved and scuffed at upper margin, title and two following leaves strengthened at upper margin, some light staining to upper blank margins.) Old marbled boards (rebacked in vellum.) Provenance : numerous manuscript notes and corrections in a single 17th-century hand, one entry dated 1640 (see p. 41). FIRST EDITION this influential work on fortification. Three further editions were published during the 17th century: 1630, 1655 (4°) and a Turin edition in 1674. The manuscript notes are clearly written by an individual with military experience in the 80 years war between Spain and the United Provinces (1568-1648). 16th-century Dutch fortifications owed much to Italian bastion design, and in particular the work of Donati de Boni. However, the 80 years war caused the Dutch to radically improve all their fortifications - coastal, river, and land - throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The author of the annotations would have seen in action in the Netherlands in the 1640's some of the most advanced and successful fortifactions in Europe at that time. The plates by Fialetti have a refreshing freedom which is unusual for military manuals of this era. Cockle 813 (incorrect plate count).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
