Manual Of Instruction Modern Drilling Practice

The period 1603-1645 witnessed the publication of more than ninety books, manuals, and broadsheets dedicated to educating Englishmen in the military arts. Written with the intention of creating the a oecomplete soldiera, this didactic literature provided gentlemen with the requisite knowledge to engage in infantry, cavalry, and siege warfare. Drawing on military history and book history, this is the first detailed study of the impact of military books on military practice in Jacobean and Caroline England. Putting military books firmly in the hands of soldiers, this work examines the circles that purchased and debated new titles, the veterans who authored them, and their influence on military thought and training in the years leading up to the English Civil War.

By examining the spaces where authors, printers and readers interact, Negotiating the Jacobean Printed Book pulls into focus the importance of the book to Jacobean culture. Contributors to the collection look beyond the traditional literary canon, interrogating not only the texts but their physical nature, before moving onto the habits, proclamations, letters and problems encountered by authors, printers and readers.