The Elementary Principles of Tactics; With New Observations on The Military Art (First Edition)

London: Printed for S. Hooper, No. 25, Ludgate-Hill, 1771. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo. Illustrated . Published just before the Revolutionary War in 1771. Bound in brown calf leather, covers are plain. Spine is beautifully ornamented with gilt decoration and red leather label stamped in gilt lettering. Cover edges are tooled in decorative gilt. Twelve fold out copper plate plans illustrate manoeuvers in black and white, all present. Text is in English, originally written in French, by Sier B, [Le Roy de Bosroger], Knight of the Military Order of St. Lewis and translated by an officer of the British Army. vii, 217 pp., [7]. Dark green silk ribbon bookmark. Mild wear and rubbing on the external cover. Hinges are strong and binding is sound. Leaves have lightly toned with only occasional foxing, predominantly within the endpapers. Unmarked except for small initials in dipped ink on the title page. This is a beautiful, solid, VG first edition copy. Full refund if not satisfied. EXCERPT FROM THE INTRODUCTORY PAGES ADVERTISEMENT: "The general approbation which the following remarks have met with both in France and Germany, from men of distinguished abilities in the military profession is more than a presumptive argument of the merits and utility of the performance. The favorable character it had on the continent encouraged me to introduce it here from an opinion that some hints might be thence borrowed that would not be useless to our British troops. [...] The author, who is an officer of rank and reputation, begins with explaining the use and importance of manual exercise, and the great advantage of skill and expertness in this particular, as they not only enable the soldier to employ the full power of his strength most effectually, but likewise contribute greatly to confirm his courage and confidence. [...] With respect to the different manoeuvers and evolutions of an army, either in attack or defence, in advancing to or retreating from an enemy, he pursues the same method, taking notice, as he proceeds, of what appears to him injudicious or erroneous in the present system of Tactics in Europe; and tracing the origin and source of those errors, he furnishes the means of rectifying or avoiding them. From thence he passes to the military discipline and arrangements of the Greeks and Romans, on which he makes several reflections. [...]