Beautifully coloured copy, by a Dutch painter closely associated with the author and the Elzeviers, of the first issue of the most sumptuous book on fencing ever produced, the Elzeviers' most ambitious undertaking, and one of the greatest show-pieces of the art of the book and the engraver's art ever. The importance of the plates and text lies not only in their beauty and craftsmanship, but also in their historical importance, for Thibault was an innovative and internationally acclaimed fencing master, and his book meticulously describes and illustrates the art of fencing just as the épée reached its zenith in Europe. Though fencing remained essential to any army officer, and was sometimes mortal for the loser, the growing use of firearms transformed it in the course of the sixteenth century from a military technique into a courtly art for noblemen and for honourable duelling, and these noblemen were of course Thibault's clientele. The last plate shows swordsmen facing opponents with firearms.
David Bailly (1584-1657), who coloured the present copy, is not only a well-known painter of the Dutch golden age, but also the son of Pieter Bailly (1554-ca. 1608), who was one of the leading Dutch fencing masters before Thibault. Pieter Bailly was also a writing master, and a copperplate printer associated with Leiden University. In 1577 Pieter had come from Antwerp to Leiden, where David was born. David probably worked in his father's copperplate printing office as a boy, was apprenticed to the engraver Jacques II de Gheyn and studied in Amsterdam with the portrait painter Cornelis van der Voort. The Baillys' associations with the Elzeviers go back at least to the 1590s: when the University senate suspended Pieter Bailly as University beadle for 3 months for taking students to "dishonest houses" Louis Elzevier, who established the family publishing house, substituted for him. This apparently caused no animosity, for a daughter of the late Jacomina Bailly (documented as a close relative: perhaps Pieter's younger sister) married the painter Aernout Elsevier (Louis's son) in 1607 and another daughter married Isaac Elzevier in 1616, the year before he first set up the Elzevier printing office. Aernout, brother and uncle of the present printers Bonaventura and Abraham, also sold some of David Bailly's paintings for him. Bailly painted a portrait of Thibault and made the drawing for the engraved portrait in the present book, perhaps even engraving it and some of the heraldic plates himself (they do not name their engravers). One can see the influence of De Gheyn's chairoscuro in Bailly's colouring of the present book, which turns some of the plates into magnificent works of art in their own right. The title-page, author's portrait and the first two numbered plates in each of the two parts are especially noteworthy in that regard.
With 2 text leaves in 18th-century(?) pen-drawn facsimiles, as noted. These pen-drawn facsimiles are fascinating items in their own right, rendering not only the text but also the woodcut initials and ornaments meticulously. They were probably added when the binding was modified.
The title-page, last plate and last 2 text leaves are rather worn, with tears repaired in the last plate and second to last text leaf, a stain in the gutter margin of the last 3 text leaves, and foxing. About a dozen leaves scattered throughout the book are somewhat browned. The book is further in very good condition, with occasional minor foxing, spots or small rust holes. The binding shows traces of black velvet that must have once covered it and each board has nail holes where a central boss, 4 cornerpieces and 2 fastenings were once mounted. It remains structurally sound. An extraordinary copy of Thibault's great fencing manual, splendidly coloured for presentation to King Louis XIII's second cousin. Berghman, Cat. Raisonné 687; Copinger 4705; H.-A. von Derschau, Verzeichniss seiner seltenen Kunst-Sammlung (auction, Nürnberg, 1 August 1825 and following days), part 3, lot 849 (this copy); H. de la Fontaine Verwey, "Gerard Thibault and his Academie de l'Espee" (www.swarta.be/uploads/4/4/1/2/44127527/gerard_thibault_and_his_academy_of_the_sword.pdf); J.A. Lane, "Gerard Thibault, Académie de lespée", in: M. Lommen, ed., The book of books (2012), pp. 158-161; W. Otterspeer, "De schermschool van Thibault", in: J. Bos & E. Geleijns, ed., Boekenwijsheid (2009), pp. 98-104 ; Rahir 273; STCN (5 copies); Sloos, Warfare 5009 (lacking 2 armorial plates); Willems 302; for Bailly and his father, see also: J. Bruyn, "David Bailly", in: Oud Holland, 66 (1951), pp. 148-164, 212-227; Hollstein I, p. 77; Thieme-Becker II, pp. 372-373; J.H. Witkam, Dagelijkse gang van zaken aan de Leidse Universiteit van 1581 tot 1596, vols. 4 (1970), pp. 161-166, & 5 (1973), p. 76; https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artistss/3626.