The Double-Armed Man, by the new Invention: briefly shewing some famous Exploits atchieved by our Brittish Bowmen: with severall Portraitures proper for the Pike and Bow.
$9.00
Neade, an archer, “first came to notice with his attempts to revive the use of the bow in warfare by devising a combined weapon consisting of a bow attached to a movable pivot in the middle of the pike shaft. His object was to enable the pikeman to defend himself and to fight while the enemy were still at a distance, rather than having to wait until they came within reach of his pike. In 1624 he demonstrated this weapon before the king. The title-page woodcut and the six fine full-page woodcuts in the text demonstrate the application of Neade’s invention. When the enemy was close enough to engage in hand-to-hand combat, the soldiers could switch quickly from the bow to the pike, allowing the weapon to serve a dual role on the battlefield. Bound in a printed cover with the engraved title page, and side stitched.