19 - Vezzani, Antonio. The Academic Exercise of the Pike. Parma, Ducal Printing House, 1688. First edition of Vezzani’s unique manual of pike exercises

Vezzani, Antonio. The Academic Exercise of the Pike. Parma, Ducal Printing House, 1688. First edition of Vezzani’s unique manual of pike exercises Vezzani, Antonio. *L'esercizio accademico di picca*. Parma, Stamperia ducale, 1688. Oblong quarto (165 x 235 mm); 108 pages. Copperplate-engraved frontispiece based on a drawing by Ferdinando Bibiena; title page with woodcut vignette; full-page copperplate-engraved Farnese coat of arms; woodcut headers, initials, and end initials; numerous chalcographic plates in the text (marginal traces of moisture, small tears, reinforcements, and missing sections on the detached frontispiece). Contemporary full-parchment binding, smooth spine (worn). The work is dedicated to the pike, a fundamental weapon of the European infantry and, at the same time, an element of great importance in the military drills and displays of the era. The exercises presented reflect not only technical training but also the spectacular and choreographed nature of weapons drills, which were particularly popular at the Italian courts of the seventeenth century. First edition of Vezzani’s manual on pike exercises