Jacob II de GheynWaffenhandlung von den Rören. Musquetten. undt Spiessen1608-09Famous military manual in magnificent contemporary colouring.From the library of the last Margrave of Bergen op Zoom,grandson of Leopold Philippe, Duke of Arenberg.

ASHER Rare Books & Antiquariaat FORUM

G H E Y N, Jacob II de. Waffenhandlung von den Rören. Musquetten. undt Spiessen. Gestalt nach der ordnung dess Hochgebornen Fursten und Herrn herrn Moritzen Printzen zu Oranien, Graffen zu Nassaw & Guber-natorn und Capitein General uber Gelderlandt, Hollandt, Zeelandt, Utre-cht, Oberijssel &c. Figurlichen abgebildet, …The Hague, [Hillebrant Jacobsz. van Wouw], [1607-1608]. 3 parts in 1 vol-ume. Small 1mo (37.5 x 28 cm). With engraved title-page and 117 full-page engraved plates (ca. 26 x 19 cm). All plates and the engraved title-page magnificently coloured and lavishly highlighted with silver and gold by a contemporary hand. 18th-century mottled calf, gold-tooled with the arms of the Count Palatine of Sulzbach and his wife on each board and richly gold-tooled spine. Price on request.

Magnificent copy of one of the rare 1608 editions (“1608” added by hand on the en-graved title-page), with the German title, English dedication and note to the reader (hence the English arms on the title-page) and text in English, French, German and Dutch. Known in English as The exercise of arms, it was written and illustrated by Jacques de Gheyn and quickly became a famous pictorial army manual for use of officers to teach the young recruits how to handle their weapons: the arquebus (part 1), musket (part 2) and pike (part 3).

Published in the Netherlands, it first appeared in Dutch and English editions (1607), then French, German, Danish, etc. (1608). All contain the 117 large en-graved plates drawn by Jacques de Gheyn II. Count Johan II of Nassau-Siegen (1561-1623), the brother of Willem Lodewijk of Nassau, stadholder of Friesland (1560-1620) and nephew of Prince Maurice, the stadholder of the Dutch Republic, began to compile and write the work himself. About 1596 he commissioned De Gheyn to publish it and he gradually assumed a larger role. Perhaps fears that the manual might aid the Dutch Republic’s Spanish opponents delayed production until the Twelve-Year’s Truce (1609-1921) was in sight.

It gives an excellent picture of the successful army of the Dutch Republic after its reform by Prince Maurits, who (re)introduced exercises and discipline. It also immortalizes Prince Maurits as a military thinker and commander of the most disciplined army of his age.

De Gheyn made his drawings for the plates in the years 1596-99 and 60 survive in the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam. Pierre du Moulin, a captain in Mau-rits’s army, sat for them. In 1606 De Gheyn was granted a 12-year privilege and in the following years he published editions in Dutch, French, English, German and Danish. Many copies have the engraved date “1607” on the title, between the title and the imprint, changed to “1608”. In this copy the title is in the first undated state. All the early editions use the same main plate for the title-page, so the text and arms for the editions in various languages and with various dedications were engraved on three separate slips of paper to be pasted over blank spaces: for the coat of arms (above), the engraved title (centre), and the imprint and privilege (below). Present here is the coat of arms of Prince Henry Frederick (1593-1612), the eldest son of James VI, created Prince of Wales in 1610. The Dutch issues show the coat of arms of Prince Maurits instead. In this copy the imprint reads: “Gedruckt ins Graven hagen in Hollandt, met privileg. der Kay. Mayt: des Könings in Franckreich und der Ed: M: Herrn Staten general der vereinigten Niederlanden”, a version not mentioned by New Hollstein.

The book met immediate success and makes a considerable contribution to our knowledge of military history. The large format editions like the present were fol-lowed in 1609 and 1619, by smaller quarto editions with woodcut copies of the

original engravings. In part 2 of the present copy, plates 2, 19, 25, 27, 29, 31 and 35 are numbered in the plate, 26 has been changed in manuscript from “2” in the plate, and the rest are numbered by hand.

Translated into many languages and often imitated, The exercise of arms laid the foundation for the handling of weapons by the infantry, and it was put into practice in armies throughout Europe. It remained in use during the whole of the seven-teenth century, and subsequent authors on the subject invariably based their work on Jacques de Gheyn’s well-illustrated manual for the instruction of recruits in the rapid and skilful handling of the arquebus or calivre, musket and pike. Apart from its military importance the book also is of great artistic value, the engravings being masterpieces in themselves, while the costume gives a detailed and reliable image of the soldiers’ uniforms at the time, providing motifs for several kinds of decorative art. The factories in Delft for instance produced many series of tiles based upon De Gheyn’s engravings.

Fully coloured copies like the present were produced largely for princes and other important persons and were probably coloured by De Gheyn himself who was cer-tainly responsible for the high standard of the colouring.

In the 18th century this copy was owned by and bound for Charles Philippe Theo-dore Count Palatine de Sulzbach (1724-1799), Duke of Bavaria, Jülich, Kleve and Berg, Prince of Mörs, Count of Veldentz, Lord of Ravenstein and last Margrave of Bergen op Zoom (1733-1794), with his and his wife’s coat of arms on each board. He was the grand-son of Leopold Phillipe, Duke of Arenberg (1691-1754) and Maria Francesca Pignatelli Countess of Egmond (1696-1766). Their daughter, Maria Henriette had married Johann Christian Sulzbach. His great-grandmother, Maria Enriette del Caretto de Savonay Grana von Arenberg, the wife of Phillip Charles François de Ligne, the third Duke of Arenberg (1663-1691), acted as re-gent for Charles Philippe Theodore after the death of her granddaughter Maria Henriette (de la Tour d’Auvergne) and was known as “the Dowager of Arenberg”.

The slips on the title-page have browned slightly and there is occasional minor soiling, mostly in the lower right margin, but the book is in very good condition. A magnificently coloured copy of a work of major importance in military history.

Meij, Jacques de Gheyn II als tekenaar, p. 12, nos. 15-20 (pp. 45-47); New Hollstein, The De Geyn Family II, 340-457 (with descriptions and illustr. of all plates); cf. Cockle 79 (other ed.); Jähns pp. 1005-7 (other eds.); J.B. Kist’s commentary to the facsimile of the Dutch edition (1971); Lipper-heide 2057-60 (other eds.); Muller, Historieplaten 1117 (& Suppl.).

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ASHER Rare BooksTuurdijk 163997 MS ‘t Goy – HoutenThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 (0)30 6011955Fax: +31 (0)30 6011813E-mail: info@asherbooks.comWeb: www.asherbooks.com

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