Thomas Binning was a Scottish soldier and mariner who had briefly served as a gunner aboard a Dutch ship in the 1650s. This book is a guide to gunnery, containing advice gained by Binning during his years of service. The text relies on complex equations, which required rather advanced mathematical knowledge to calculate the weight of shot, diameters of barrels and trajectories. If a gunner did not have such knowledge, their accuracy would be limited. The book also provides practical advice on how to prepare a gun for fire, where to position gunners and reminds fellow captains to move out of the way once ready to fire rather than run the risk of having their feet crushed by the recoil.

This copy was bound for James II when Duke of York. During the reign of his brother Charles II, James was appointed Lord High Admiral and in that capacity played a prominent role in the actions of the Royal Navy during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars.

Due to its interesting binding, this book was one of those selected by the Royal Librarian Richard Rivington Holmes in 1893 as a fine example of bookbinding in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.

Binding information

Contemporary red goatskin by Queens' Binders C, with the cipher of James II as Duke of York within palm fronds below a royal ducal crown on the covers; spine divided into five compartments, the first and last also numbered (now obscured) all with closed flower-head tool; all edges gilt; comb-marbled end-leaves. The monogram of James II when Duke of York appears on the boards, ID (Iacobus Dux).