Barret, The Theorike and practike of moderne warres, London, 1598, contemporary calf

BARRET, ROBERT

The Theorike and practike of moderne warres. London: William Ponsonby, 1598

FIRST EDITION, folio (281 x 188mm.), woodcut illustrations throughout, leaf O folding, contemporary calf, a few manuscript annotations, occasional tears, very slightly worn, rebacked with repair to corner at head of upper cover

This is the only work by the soldier Barret (died 1607), which "exemplifies England's belated transition from knightly to professional principles of warfare. Detailing a wide range of military technique, it prescribes the 'severall duties' expected of 'the Officers in degrees' within the new hierarchy of military rank, and provides—in the influential manner of Leonard and Thomas Digges's Stratioticos (1579)—a practical grounding in the mathematical logistics of early modern war" (ODNB).

LITERATURE:

Cockle 68; ESTC S106853

PROVENANCE:

John Longe, signatures to rear pastedown