Fiammelli, Il principe difeso, Rome, 1604, contemporary vellum

Giovanni Francesco Fiammelli

Il principe difeso, nel quale si tratta di fortificazione, oppugnazione, espugnazione, e propugnazione, ò difesa. Rome: Luigi Zannetti, 1604

folio (314 x 210mm.), title and *4v printed in red and black with woodcut armorial, folding woodcut plate entitled "albero delle fortificazioni", woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, woodcut diagrams, contemporary vellum, occasional light browning or spotting, plate slightly creased with a few small tears, one diagram shaved at foot, last leaf repaired (obscuring register)

FIRST EDITION. Fiammelli's work on the usefulness or otherwise of fortification stemmed from Machiavelli's debate that their construction showed a ruler's lack of trust in his subjects. Fiammelli, a Florentine mathematician and engineer who worked for the Duke of Parma in the Low Countries, examines all the ramifications of fortifications, showing that good ones are useful but that they have to be used competently to be effective.

LITERATURE:

Cockle 801; USTC 4034250

PROVENANCE:

Jesuits of Arezzo, inscription at foot of title-page