I was able recently (courtesy of that wonderful website - Google Books) to get hold of a copy of Louis de Gaya's Traité des armes which was published in 1678. It is a description of contemporary and ancient weaponry published by a man who was a serving officer in the French army at that time. It contains a lot of interesting information about the weapons - firearms, artillery, explosive devices, bladed weapons, etc. - used during the 1670s.

I translated what I thought were the most relevant sections for that period, ignoring his sections on ancient warfare, and then added footnotes for explanation of some of the terms or to clarify points of detail. I have attached this as a PDF to this post (just click on the link below) for anyone who would like to use the information. Feel free to download it if you wish.

The pp. references at the end of paragraphs or sections refer to the page sin the book itself. The footnotes are at the bottom of each page of the PDF.

I would more than welcome any feedback on my efforts.

Gaya's Treatise on arms