His Practise, in Two Bookes: the first intreating of the use of the Rapier and Dagger, the second of Honour and Honourable Quarrels
1595
CityLondon
PublisherJohn Wolfe
PrinterThomas Scarlet
Format4°
Pages[7], 17 [i.e. 21] leaves, [250] p.
Dimensions21 cm
Source pages: 299. Bracketed notes: ["Withoutpagination. 6woodcuts,inthetext. DedicatedtotheEarlofEssex. \"Thisworkis generallybelieved, andwith good reason, to bealludedto by Shakespeare in 'Asyou Likeit.' Itis veryillustrative ofallusions both in Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. Somecopies contain eleven leaves less thantheabove,markedwithakindofflower. Thefirstleafofsheet'I'was cancelled, and twelve additional leaves insertedin its place, formingthe completebook, asinthiscopy. Thesecondleafofsheet'I' is erroneously marked 'H2.' Insomecopiesboth thecancelled leafandthe additional sheetoccur; buttheformeriscertainlyoutofplace,beingrepeated. There arethereforethreedifferentkinds ofcopies,allvirtuallyperfect. Between 'Gg'and 'Hh' arealso twoleaves,thefirst marked ,forminga chapter 'OftheDuelloorCombats. \"-\" Quaritch's CatalogueofBooks.\" Supplement1875-77,p.138. \"Thefirst writer on the rapier in this countrywas Vincentio Saviolo, the greatexpounderofthatItalienatedfenceso muchreviled bytheold-establishedmaster,withalmuchadmiredofElizabethancourtiers,Shakespeare's fencing-master.\"-\"The Story of Swordsmanship.\" (\"The National Review,\"May1891.)"]
Exact facsimile and Folger STC 21788 catalogue checked in quality phase 161 (2026-08-15): leaf 21 is misnumbered 17; the second book has a separate 1594 title page but continuous register. Copy variants caused by inserted cancel gatherings are retained in the existing note.
