Elements of tacticks, and introduction to military evolutions for the infantry: by A celebrated Prussian General

London: Printed for the author, 1787. xvi, 334pp, [4]. With. a half-tile, 18 engraved folding plates, a leaf of errata, and a terminal leaf of publisher's advertisements. Contemporary gilt-ruled calf, marbled paper boards, black calf lettering-piece. Extremities rubbed. Plate margins a trifle browned and dusty. Recently dispersed from the Cottlesloe Military Library 'probably the most extensive private collection of early printed books focused on military matters', with the bookplate of Thomas Francis Fremantle, 3rd Lord Cottesloe (1862-1965) to FEP. The first edition in English of Prussian army officer Friedrich Christoph von Saldern's (1719-1785) Taktik der infanterie (Dresden, 1784), translated by military educationist Isaac Landmann (1741-1826). Having served with distinction during the Seven Years' War (1756-63), and secured through rapid battlefield promotion the rank of major-general, von Saldern, thanks to his tactical sagacity, was appointed Inspector-General for the Magdeburg Infantry Inspection, a position he held from 1763 until his death. His primary concern was in constructing fundamental principles for infantry movement to serve as a foundation for performing complicated manoeuvres; he was, however, given to concocting such advanced and involved manoeuvres that the average soldier would be hard-pressed to complete on the parade ground, let alone in the heat of battle. ESTC T113849.. First edition in English. 8vo.