Libro de la destreza berdadera de las armas …." Manuscript on paper, in Spanish.

, , 1640.. 4° (25.4 x 18.5 cm.), contemporary limp vellum, worn. Written in ink, in a seventeenth-century hand, large and fairly legible, with copious corrections and annotations. Engravings on 3 leaves: title, author and date within a cartouche on one of opening leaves; portrait of author with his arms, motto, and an inscription; engraved arms (of dedicatee?). Occasional light dampstaining and soiling. In very good condition. (5 ll.), 68 ll. [skips 44, text appears complete], 23 ll., (5 ll.), 71 ll. [skips 48, text lacking], (3 ll.), 22 ll. [skips 8, text appears complete], 31 ll. [skips 1-4, 6-7, 17-29 with text lacking, also undetermined amount at end], (6 ll.), 30-44 ll., 24-32 ll., 27-34 ll., (1 l.) [=245 ll.]. *** A very substantial and important unpublished manuscript covering the principles and fundamentals of fencing, plus tactics to use in specific situations. The manuscript consists of two books: a lengthy "Adbirtencias praticas y primeros principios para el conosimiento de lo que se ubiere de dezir o enseñar en este Libro" in 178 numbered sections; and a shorter "Primeros principios y fundamentos para comensar [?] por nuestros tres caminos." Following this section are two apparently earlier working drafts (and a fragment of a third) of the first book, plus several incomplete drafts of the second book. The sequence of composition is unclear, for each draft includes substantial alterations and additions not present in the others.The substantial corrections and annotations suggest that it is in the hand of the author, and was perhaps being prepared for publication: the opening leaves include a dedication to the Conde de Peñaflor and sonnets addressed to the author (among them several by other fencing masters and another by a physician). The pagination is erratic, and some leaves of the preliminary drafts appear to have been lost (as noted above) or perhaps even discarded intentionally after revision. The total of 245 leaves approximately corresponds to that given by Palau and Leguina.The title, author, and date of the work are engraved (on ruled lines) within a cartouche on one of the opening leaves. On the following leaf is a naively engraved portrait of the author, with his coat of arms above. Around the oval frame are the words "Ludovicus Mendes de Carmona nobilissimae totius civitatis Escegae natus etatis sue 66 annorum." At the top of the engraving is the motto, "Por las armas y las letras se goviernan el mundo." On the next leaf, the dedication, an engraved coat of arms - presumably those of the dedicatee - has been tipped.Little is known of Mendes de Carmona other than that he was born no later than 1574 and was a native of Écija (between Córdoba and Seville). The dedication to the manuscript implies that he was a fencing master in Seville.Provenance: The manuscript described by Palau is noted as having appeared in the Edouard de Beaumont sale (Paris, 6 June 1888), "en aquel Catálogo fué descrito por primera vez." It later sold for 3500 frs. in Paris in 1936. Our manuscript evidently passed through the French book trade: several pencilled notes in French appear on the recto of the front flyleaf, and the words "Vente de Beaumont 1888" are penciled on the front pastedown.*** Palau 163091n: apparently describing this manuscript ("autógrafo del autor"), with 240 ll. and an engraved title-page, portrait, and coat of arms; he cites the author's name as Luis Méndez de Carmona Tamariz. Leguina 117: apparently describing the same manuscript, with 240 ll. Thimm p. 46: citing the author as Tamaris Méndes de Carmona, and calling for 240 ll. plus a plate with a coat of arms. Gelli, Bibliografia generale della scherma (1895), p. 592. Pardoel, Fencing: A Bibliography (2005), 1712.01. Manuel Valle Ortiz, Nueva bibliografía de la antigua esgrima y destreza de las armas 266. Edouard de Beaumont, Catalogue d'un choix de livres rares et curieux sur l'escrime, l'histoire de l’épée, le duel, la chasse (June 6, 1888) lot 98 (the present copy).