Vegetius Renatus, De re militari, [Lyon, Lucimborgo da Gabiano], 1523, contemporary dark brown French calf

8vo (164 x 97 mm). Italic type, 32 lines plus headline. collation: A⁸ a-r⁸: 144 leaves (r8 blank). Title-page printed in red and black within a decorative woodcut border, typographic diagrams of military formations. (Minor spots on title, wormhole penetrating last third of volume, a few minor paper flaws and light stains.)

binding: Contemporary dark brown French calf (169 x 102 mm), blind fillet around sides, frame of three blind fillets, gilt fleuron at corners and center, seven compartments, red edges. (Worn and crackled, gilding faded, ends of spine and corners restored, hinges cracked.) Housed in red c.loth box

provenance: Unidentified owner, inscription "René Laurens" on title, with initials "RL" incorporated in woodcut compartment on title-page, perhaps René Laurens de La Barre (d. 1628) — Georges Heilbrun, Catalogue 45: Le premier caractère italique en France (Paris [1976]), item 30 (FF 850). acquisition: Purchased from Georges Heilbrun, Paris, 1976. references: UCLA 1173; Renouard 316/60; Shaw 38; Baudrier, VII, 166; Gültlingen, III, p. 117: 26; FB 90154; USTC 145587