Trattato in Materia di Scherma (“Treatise on Matters of Defense”) by Marco Docciolini, which he dedicated to the great Florentine general Don Giovanni de’ Medici (1563-1621).
1st edition, Florence: Michelagnolo Sermartelli, 1601, 115, [1] pp., woodcut armorial of dedicatee Giovanni Medici to title, woodcut diagram, some scattered spotting, upper pastedown with 19th-century bookplate of the Ryal United Service Institution, contemporary limp vellum, paper label at foot of spine, without ties, slim 4to
Marco Docciolini was an Italian fencing master at the turn of the 17th century. He seems to have been an initiate of the Florentine fencing tradition of Francesco di Sandro Altoni. He describes fifty-two years of professional experience by 1601. The treatise covers the use of the rapier, Two Swords, Sword and Buckler, Sword and Targe, Sword and Rotella. His lack of formal guild affiliation together suggest a long military career, possibly under the command of Don Giovanni de' Medici, to whom his treatise is dedicated.
Provenance: Leon Paul (1881–1963), thence by descent.
The Royal United Service Institution is the world's oldest defence and security think tank, founded in 1831 by the first Duke of Wellington, based in Whitehall, London, United Kingdom.
Thimm p. 80.
An uncommon copy of this treatise by the Florentine fencing master Docciolini.
Only three UK institutional locations found (Oxford University Library, Victoria and Albert Museum Library, and Wallace Collection Library).
Leon Paul was a French-born fencing master and entrepreneur who founded the renowned Leon Paul fencing equipment company in London in 1921.
Trattato in Materia di Scherma (“Treatise on Matters of Defense”) by Marco Docciolini, which he dedicated to the great Florentine general Don Giovanni de’ Medici (1563-1621).
1st edition, Florence: Michelagnolo Sermartelli, 1601, 115, [1] pp., woodcut armorial of dedicatee Giovanni Medici to title, woodcut diagram, some scattered spotting, upper pastedown with 19th-century bookplate of the Ryal United Service Institution, contemporary limp vellum, paper label at foot of spine, without ties, slim 4to
Marco Docciolini was an Italian fencing master at the turn of the 17th century. He seems to have been an initiate of the Florentine fencing tradition of Francesco di Sandro Altoni. He describes fifty-two years of professional experience by 1601. The treatise covers the use of the rapier, Two Swords, Sword and Buckler, Sword and Targe, Sword and Rotella. His lack of formal guild affiliation together suggest a long military career, possibly under the command of Don Giovanni de' Medici, to whom his treatise is dedicated.
Provenance: Leon Paul (1881–1963), thence by descent.
The Royal United Service Institution is the world's oldest defence and security think tank, founded in 1831 by the first Duke of Wellington, based in Whitehall, London, United Kingdom.
Thimm p. 80.
An uncommon copy of this treatise by the Florentine fencing master Docciolini.
Only three UK institutional locations found (Oxford University Library, Victoria and Albert Museum Library, and Wallace Collection Library).
Leon Paul was a French-born fencing master and entrepreneur who founded the renowned Leon Paul fencing equipment company in London in 1921.
