The Teaching and Art of Infantry Formation, 1647

"The Teaching and Art of Infantry Formation", printed in Moscow in 1647, is regarded as the first secular book published in Russia. It is a translation from German of a military manual popular in Europe, written by Johann Jacobi von Wallhausen, a captain in the Dutch army.

The book was issued by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who continued the army reform begun by his father: under Mikhail Fyodorovich the first "new order" regiments, trained by European officers, had already appeared. The author describes in detail how to handle the musket and the pike, how to form and re-form ranks and files, and how to maintain discipline. The detail goes to extremes: loading a musket is broken down into 42 movements.

The engravings and the title page were printed in Holland, since Russia did not yet have the technical means for intaglio printing on copper. The engraved plates show diagrams of attack, defence, camps and marching columns, and demonstrate step by step how to prepare a musket for firing. The print run was 1200 copies, but the book sold poorly: only 134 copies were sold in ten years.