(1511). VEGECE. [DE RE MILITARIA]. - Lot 53

(1511). VEGECE. [DE RE MILITARIA]. [(Erfurt, Hans Knapp, 1511)]. In-folio of 191(of 196) pages, soft vellum (contemporary binding). Separate first printing of the 191 SPECTACULAR ENGRAVINGS alone (out of 195), only some of which adorn the edition of the same year with the text. This edition contains 74 more woodcuts than the edition with text, which contained 121. This suite was intended for warriors, for whom the strategic inventions of siege and battle machines were more important than a lengthy explanation, and this treatise bears witness to the specialization of weapons from Roman times onwards: there is a clepsydra, a number of catapults, cannons, rams, grenades, hydraulic machines, bridges, rafts, diving boats... Most of the figures are by Hans Knapp, others are signed PVM, and this edition has escaped the notice of most bibliographers. A pure copy, the woodcut is excellent (not at USTC).