1798 – English Long Bow Manual | Rare First Edition – Pike & Archery Exercises

Pro aris et focis by Richard Mason is a late 18^th-century treatise on the use and need for reviving the English long bow. Alongside the pike, the English long bow is often considered one of the most effective and deadly forms of assault in a pre-gunpowder era of war. Mason argues that the arrow volleys and sustained showers of arrows eliminated even the most disciplined enemy troops.

This 1798 first edition contains three engraved plates, including two folding plates that depict English longbowmen with pike and sabre.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: “Pro aris et focis” : considerations of the reasons that exist for reviving the use of the long bow with the pike
• Author(s): Richard Oswald Mason
• Publisher: London, Printed for T. Egerton
• Edition: First edition, 1798
• Binding: Modern spine over boards
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Size:  8.75 in x 5.75 in (22 cm x 14.5 cm)
• Collation: 59 pp
• Illustrations: 3 engraved plates including frontispiece and 2 folding engravings
• Contents Include:
  • Revival of the English long bow
  • Disciplined arrow volleys
  • Exercises for bow and pike
  • Marching positions and formations

Condition:

Very Good. Modern hardcover binding tight and secure with clear spine title. Untrimmed page edges. Text clean with no major stains or spotting. Engravings intact, including both folding plates, free of tears or rips.

Why Collect This?

• First edition Georgian military treatise
• Interest for collectors of archery and British militia history

Item Number: #50118