Military manuals are one of the genres of educational literature that began to spread via the printing presses as early as in the incunabula period. Their specific type - books on military art - began to be published at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.
These publications were often typographically sophisticated folio volumes aimed at a wealthy readership - often of the nobility - who included the volumes in their collections to promote their warrior self-presentation. The aim of this paper is to characterise development of books on military art printed in Central Europe in the first half of the 17th century.
The paper focuses on their content, inspirational sources and also on their authors and other originators.