The complete posthumous works of Louis de Cormontaingne (ca. 1696-1752), the leading French fortifications engineer of his day and from 1748 Maréchal de Camp in the French army. The three volumes form a complete handbook of fortification, with the first devoted to the design and construction of permanent and temporary fortifications, the second to offense in siege warfare and the third to defence. All three are extensively and clearly illustrated. Cormontaingne joined the Corps du Génie less than a decade after the death of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707) and is regarded as his successor, establishing his reputation with the fortifications of Metz in 1728. Vauban completely dominated French and to some degree international fortification for decades after his death, but offensive tactics steadily gained ground while defensive tactics remained largely the same, so Cormontaigne introduced some improvements into Vauban's methods.
With 11 plates somewhat browned, 1 quire foxed, occasional spots, and some minor marginal water stains toward the end of vol. I, but still in good condition. A thorough fortification manual by the most important French fortifications engineer since Vauban, with 55 plates. Jordan 769 vol. I, 770, 768 (not noting the folding tables).