Practical Manual of Artillery

artillery in times of peace as well as during war; what provisions must be made by Captains, Master Gunners, & Bombardiers, & with what order artillery must be transported & operated in the aforementioned enterprises, how one must form mines to blow up fortresses & mountains with them, along with many other most important operations & exquisite secrets, just as is diffusely contained in the progress of this work. Therefore, wishing, O Exalted Duke, to follow the style & norm of other writers, who give their works to the light under the protection of great personages; and finding neither greater merit, nor a higher subject than that which I consider in the Most Excellent person of Your Excellency; I have taken the boldness to offer and dedicate to you, as in effect I offer and dedicate, this my work; so that with the aid of your authority & greatness, you may favor, help, and defend it from the envious tongues of detractors; & that under the shadow of such a protector, this my labor may manifest itself to the world & come to light. May Your Excellency deign, therefore, to accept this small gift, not for any merit or sufficiency of mine; but for your innate humanity & clemency. And because, as the content of this work is entirely a matter of military affairs, of which we have narrated so many excellencies, it will be more fitting & proper for Your Excellency than for any other Prince. May our Lord God conserve, make happy, & increase for a long time your Most Illustrious & Excellent person, together with your generous & Illustrious offspring, just as will be perpetually desired by me, your most humble servant.