Brown leather binding with raised banding and gilt decoration on the spine. Original (worn) binding, title plate missing.

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The Mémoires de Montecuculi (Tome Premier, 1770) is the first volume of the famous military treatises by Italian military commander Raimondo Montecuculi, edited with commentaries by the French tactician Comte Turpin de Crissé, and co-published in Amsterdam and Leipzig by the firm Arkstée & Merkus. This volume is famous for its etchings and military maps – please view our photographs.

Book Overview

• Author: Raimondo Montecuculi (Generalissime and Grand Master of the Emperor’s Artillery)

• Editor/Commentator: Comte Lancelot Turpin de Crissé

• Publisher: Arkstée & Merkus (often styled Arkstée & Merkus, operating out of Amsterdam and Leipzig)

• Publication Year: 1770 (part of a 3-volume set)

• Language: French

Contents and Physical Details

• Focus of Tome I: Generally covers the first major book of his military philosophy, focusing on the foundations of military science (De l’Art Militaire en général).

• Plates & Illustrations: Complete multi-volume sets of this 1770 edition are prized by collectors for containing engraved title vignettes, portraits, and large folded tactical maps/plans.

• Historical Significance: Montecuculi (1609–1680) was a premier strategist of the 17th century who fought against the Ottoman Empire and Turenne; Turpin de Crissé’s 18th-century commentaries adapted these classic lessons for Enlightenment-era military reforms.

Raimondo Montecuccoli (Italian pronunciation: (21 February 1609 – 16 October 1680) was an Italian-born professional soldier, military theorist, and diplomat, who served the Habsburg monarchy. His military exploits over his five-decade career earned him a reputation as one of the greatest military commanders in history. He is also regarded as the most distinguished military thinker of the early modern period.

Experiencing the Thirty Years’ War from scratch as a simple footsoldier, he rose through the ranks into a regiment holder and became an important cavalry commander in the late stages. Serving the Habsburgs as war counsellor and envoy, he commanded their troops in the Second Northern War and the Austro-Turkish War of 1663–64 where he scored an impressive victory in the Battle of Saint Gotthard. Afterwards, he became president of the Hofkriegsrat and briefly returned as supreme commander of the Imperial forces during the Franco-Dutch War.

Montecuccoli was considered the only commander able to compete with the French general Turenne (1611–1675), and like him, was closely associated with the post-1648 development of linear infantry tactics.