Book Reviews

The Renaissance Drill Book,
by Jacob de Gheyn and edited by David Blackmore. Greenhill Books, London, UK, and Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 2003. ISBN 1 85367 561 X. 247 pp.; 5 1/2” x 8 3/4; 117 b&w illustrations; hardbound. $24.95.

This work, which appears to suggest that it is a new work, is an uncited reprint of Greenhill's 1989 and 1998 facsimiles of Jacob II de Gheyn's Exercise of Arms of 1607. The previous facsimiles were welcome, as they were the only in-print editions of this highly important 17th century drill manual for caliver, musket and pike. The current imprint, with a title that suggests a more insightful study on an earlier period of military history, has a superficial two-page introduction, and too small, murky illustrations. It pales in comparison to Dover Publications' superior large format edition under the correct title. The Greenhill edition offers virtually no text, except for the above-mentioned introduction and simplified captions after the Dutch originals. The Dover edition has an excellent and thorough commentary section written by the Dutch arms scholar, the late J. Bas Kist. This compares favorably to the superb 47 page monographic study also by Kist, included in the landmark McGraw-Hill edition of 1971. This folio-sized, facsimile was a work of art in its own right, and the monograph thoroughly examined de Gheyn's work in its military/artistic/historical contexts.