4to (207 x 134 mm). Woodcut device on title-page; woodcut diagram in-text; woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces. (Some intermittent spotting.) Later half vellum (some light soiling and rubbing). 

FIRST EDITION of Italian fencing master Docciolini's manual, treating the use of the side sword. Docciolini, "apparently an initiate of the Florentine fencing tradition of Francesco di Sandro Altoni...dedicated [his work] to the great Florentine general Don Giovanni de' Medici (1563-1621). His dedication describes fifty-two years of professional experience by 1601, suggesting a probable date of birth in the early 1530s" (Wiktenauer). RARE: According to online records, only 2 copies of this work have sold at auction in the last 50 years. Cockle 753; Pardoel 168; Thimms p.80.