| Opera Nova |
|---|
| A New Work |
 |
| Full title |
A New Work by Achille Marozzo
of Bologna, General Master of
the Art of Arms |
|---|
| Also known as |
The Art of Arms of Achille
Marozzo of Bologna |
|---|
| Author(s) |
Achille Marozzo |
|---|
| Illustrated by |
Hans Sebald Beham (?) |
|---|
| Dedicated to |
Count Rangoni |
|---|
| Place of origin |
Bologna, Italy |
|---|
| Language |
Italian |
|---|
| Genre(s) |
Fencing manual |
|---|
| Publication date |
1536, 1546, 1550, 1568, 1615 |
|---|
| Pages |
296 pages |
|---|
| Treatise scans |
|
|---|
Opera Nova ("A New Work") is a Bolognese fencing manual written by Achille Marozzo and printed in 1536.[1] This is the most extensive and significant treatise on the Dardi (or "Bolognese") style of Italian swordsmanship, as well as one of the most influential fencing manuals of the 16th century.
Publication History
Opera Nova was first printed in Modena in 1536 by D. Antonio Bergolae, featuring woodblock illustrations possibly engraved by Hans Sebald Beham.[2] There are a few suggestions of prior printings to this edition, but they cannot be confirmed.[3] The treatise was reset and reprinted in Bologna in 1546, and reprinted again in Venice in 1550 using the original typeset. In 1567-68 it was reprinted in Venice again, but this time based on the 1546 Bologna printing.
A revised edition was released by Marozzo's son Sebastiano in 1568 under the title Arte dell'Armi di Achille Marozzo Bolognese ("The Art of Arms of Achille Marozzo of Bologna"). This edition featured corrections to the text (but omitted additions made in the 1546 printing) and replaced the woodblock images with smaller copperplates by Giovanni Battista Fontana; it was printed in Venice in 1568 by Antonio Pinargenti, and reprinted in Verona in 1615.
There are a few references in fencing bibliographies to a French translation titled Livre d'escrime pour apprendre a tirer de l'espée et de toutes armes blanches, published in Lyon in 1580 by Pierre Mareschal, but there are no records of any copies ever existing and it seems likely that these references are spurious.
Contents
Gallery
Woodblock Images (1536)
Copperplate Images (1568)
Additional Resources
References
- ↑ According to the title page.
- ↑ Gotti 213-220
- ↑ In 1890, Jacopo Gelli published bibliography in which he made reference to an edition published in 1517, of which a copy resided in the R. Biblioteca Pisana, but this edition has never been found or mentioned by any other author. In 2016, Roberto Gotti published a description of a set of 17th or 18th century prints from the original 1536 woodblocks, to which a date of 1529 was added, and suggests that this may indicate that the wood blocks themselves bore a date which was added to the prints. See Gotti 213-220.
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
