Robert Barret’s (fl.1586?-1607) The Theorike and Practike of Moderne Warres (1598) is an excellent example of late 16th-century English book production. The limp vellum cover with ties exemplifies one of the most common binding styles. The front paste down has split allowing us to see the sewing structure underneath: five alum tawed supports with kettle stitches at the head and tail. Curiously, one previous owner chose to write notes upside and on the back cover paste down. This 1598 book also displays how quickly printing evolved over the century from heavy black letter type to sophisticated woodcut diagrams and a more readable Roman type.
Barret was a well-know military man and remarks in his preface that he “spent the most part of [his] time in the profession of Armes.” The book is structured as a dialogue between a gentleman and captain. A fitting format given that this book was written to teach the second dedicatee, William, Lord Harbert, the mathematical stratagems of war. Barret later wrote a long elegiac poem “The Sacred Warr” which chronicles wars in the Holy Land. It was never published and exists as a 1200 page manuscript!
-Jillian
From the library of General Spielsdorf.
