Treatise

Opera nova — Antonio Manciolino (1531)
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Treatise Catalogued Reviewed

Opera nova — Antonio Manciolino (1531)

Treatise 1531 Italian Italy

Antonio Manciolino

Early Italian fencing treatise by Antonio Manciolino, printed at Venice in 1531 by Nicolo d'Aristotile, detto Zoppino. Gelli stresses its importance as one of the earliest printed Italian works on arms and remarks that it treats quarrels and gentlemanly conduct as much as technical fencing.

Castle also records the Venice 1531 Manciolino witness printed by Nicolo d'Aristotile detto Zoppino.

Vigeant 1882 treats Manciolino as one of the earliest Italian fencing writers, but says the 1531 Opera nova still offers only a sketch of the bases of fencing, with woodcuts that function as ornaments rather than true illustrations of the text.

1 Editions
2 Resources
0 Holdings
4 References
Bibliographic Overview
TitleOpera nova — Antonio Manciolino (1531)
AuthorAntonio Manciolino
Earliest publication date1531
LanguageItalian
CountryItaly
Document typeTreatise
Authority statement
Antonio Manciolino
Authority Roles
Author
Antonio Manciolino
Edition History
Opera nova — Antonio Manciolino (1531) 1531
CityVinegia
PublisherNot specified
PrinterNiccolò d'Aristotile detto Zoppino
Format
Pages63 leaves
DimensionsNot specified
Gelli lists the Venice 1531 Zoppino edition with a few woodcuts separated from the text and remarks that the illustrations serve mainly as ornament rather than as direct technical support to the treatise.

Vigeant 1882, p. 86: Venezia, per N. d'Aristotile detto Zoppino, 1531. In-8vo with woodcut figures in the text; Vigeant judges them merely ornamental and unrelated to the technical exposition.

Quality phase 112: the surviving 1531 printing occupies leaves 1r–63v and has ornamental woodcut headings for its six books. Niccolò d'Aristotile detto Zoppino is recorded as printer. The former 16° statement was corrected to 8°.
Digital Witnesses
Wiktenauer article - Opera Nova (Antonio Manciolino)
HTML OCR
Wiktenauer · open
Imported from Wiktenauer Books batch 1 on 2026-07-17. Source row 8; confidence=high.
UMass Lord Collection PDF - Antonio Manciolino, Opera Nova...De l'armi d'ogni sorte
PDF
UMass Amherst - Raymond J. Lord Collection · open
Imported from reviewed UMass Lord confirmed mapping on 2026-07-17. Source row 1; confidence=high.
Scholarly References
Castle entry CAS-P042-E005
Castle (1892)
Egerton Castle, Schools and Masters of Fence, from the Middle Ages to the End of the Eighteenth Century. With a complete bibliography. New and revised edition. London: George Bell & Sons, 1892.
Pages 42 · Entry CAS-P042-E005
Gelli entry GEL-P165-E001
Gelli (1890)
Jacopo Gelli, Bibliografia generale della scherma con note critiche, biografiche e storiche.
Pages 165 · Entry 001
Thimm entry 1358
Thimm (1896)
Carl A. Thimm, A Complete Bibliography of Fencing and Duelling.
Pages 203 · Entry 1358
Vigeant entry VIG-P086-E002
Vigeant (1882)
Arsène Vigeant, La Bibliographie de l'escrime ancienne et moderne. Paris: Imprimé par Motteroz, 1882.
Pages 86 · Entry VIG-P086-E002