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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9781891448232
ISBN number: 1891448234
Label: Chivalry Bookshelf
Manufacturer: Chivalry Bookshelf
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 324
Printing Date: June 30, 2005
Publishing house: Chivalry Bookshelf
Release Date: June 30, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 331994
Studio: Chivalry Bookshelf
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
During the Renaissance, rapier-dueling and fencing evolved into one of the most deadly and effective of Western martial arts. Salvator Fabris (1544-1618), a Grand Master from Padua, Italy, became arguably the most Internationally-celebrated teacher of this style. The roster of his princely pupils included the Archbishop of Bremen and the King of Denmark, under whose patronage he published his exceptional rapier-fencing manual Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme (On fencing, or martial knowledge).
Fabris’ manual became an instant-bestseller around European fencing circles: it was re-printed continually from 1606 to 1713, translated into several languages, imitated and even plagiarized as Fabris’ style took the continent by storm.
Chivalry Bookshelf is proud to present Fabris’ manual in modern English, translated and edited by experienced rapierist and leading Fabris researcher Tom Leoni. Western martial artists and fencing historians alike will delight in reading this great treatise that includes detailed instruction on:
• Fencing with the rapier (theory and practice)
• Fencing with the rapier and left-hand dagger (theory and practice)
• Fencing with the rapier and cloak (theory and practice)
• Advanced techniques on how to defeat the opponent without stopping in guard
• Disarms, cape-throws and fighting off a dagger-wielding attacker
No other Master is as thorough and systematic as Fabris in defining the tactics, the techniques and the mechanics of this martial system; furthermore, the language used by the author is amazingly 'modern' in nature, resulting in a text that is very easy to read and understand. The book is graced with the original didactical illustration by court painter Ian Halbeeck and others, making it as valuable to the modern student as it was to the dueling gentleman of the 1600’s.
Our edition also includes a technical rapier glossary, a biographical sketch of Fabris within his cultural context and a valuable introduction by Classical fencing Master Sean Hayes.
There is no modern interpretation that can come close to explaining rapier fencing as well as the words of Fabris, an author who is gaining more and more enthusiastic followers in today’s Western Martial Arts’ world. This is a testament to his style, which is dynamic, athletic, strikingly baroque, and is as effective as only a refined art can be.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
I don't know Italian, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the translation. I can, however, comment on its quality: it is excellent. Having read one or two translations Renaissance Italian texts (i.e., Machiavelli's Discourses and the Treviso Arithmetic), I was expecting this text to be similarly difficult. It is not, not by a long shot.
I assume that part of the readability of the text is due to the quality of the original; surely Fabris was ahead of his time with his prose. The content is prosaic and practical -- thoroughly grounded in reality -- and lacks the attempts at poetry and metaphor that I had expected. That said, surely the translator made myriad decisions on choice of phrasing and wording; many find Shakespeare nigh unreadable, and this translation needed to bridge both time and language, and it succeeded.
Rated by buyers -
This book is one of the best manuals I've ever seen. The instructions are very clear with excellent illustrations. I'm very new to the sport, but after reading through several of the forms, I feel I have at least a starting place. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is just learning or wanting to improve their form.
Rated by buyers -
Some years ago I obtained a translation of Salvator Fabris' rapier fencing treatise made by a professional translator in the 19th century. Reading Tom Leoni's translation really makes me appreciate the art involved in this process and the importance of having a translator who is not only fluent in both languages, but is fluent in the subject of the book being translated. In fact The Art of Dueling includes the preface to the 1677 German edition of Fabris, in which similar problems, earlier editions had been translated by a non-fencer, are discussed.
Not only has Tom captured the meaning of Salvator Fabris, but he has done so while maintaining the flow and music of Fabris' language. He has suceeded in giving the 21st century English reader what Fabris gave the 17th century Italian one, clear instruction on how to use a rapier in text that is a pleasure to read.
Nobody knows more about Salvator Fabris than Tom Leoni. Watching him fence is like looking at plates from Fabris. Therefore I was very surprised to hear that Tom was including no interpretation in his book. Having read it, I think he made the right decision. Fabris' treatise lays out the art of rapier fencing so systematically and comprehensively that any additional layer of interpretation would be a veil between the reader and the Master. Instead, Tom tells you how he thinks you should use Fabris' work. Also included are interesting discussions of Fabris and his work, and the place of rapier fencing in Renaissance culture. The preface by Classical Fencing Master Sean Hayes is also very informative, looking at the links and the changes between the art of Fabris and the 19th century Italian duelling art.
All-in-all I cannot speak highly enough of this book. Anyone looking to understand and learn Italian rapier fencing needs a copy of The Art of Dueling. What are you waiting for!
Stephen Hand
Author, English Swordsmanship, Medieval Sword and Shield
Editor, Spada, Spada II
Rated by buyers -
Tom Leoni has produced an excellent and readable translation of one of the most celebrated Italian rapier treatises. Praised by both later masters and his contemparies, Fabris provided a detailed description of tempo, misura, guards, counterguards, feints and cavazione (as well as many other concepts vital to an understanding of rapier combat of the period). Mr. Leoni has successfully rendered the original Italian text into an English translation that is both faithful to the original work and easily understandable by the modern reader. The book is handsomely presented in a large hardcover edition with excellent reproductions of the original illustrations; not only is it essential reading for any student of the rapier, but it also deserves a place on the shelf of anyone with even a passing interest in Renaissance swordsmanship.
Rated by buyers -
The elegant, deadly rapier is weapon whose memory has survived the centuries through romantic notions of musketeers and duels at dawn. Yet in the days of its use (the late 16th and 17th centuries), it was an efficient tool of self-defence, whose study married the Renaissance love of geometry, proportion and grace to pragmatic, martial efficiency.
Salvator Fabris was one of the seminal masters of this period, the master of a king, and his fencing manual is a perfect mirror of these sensibilities, as well as an open door to those who wish to take up the sword for themselves. In plain, no-nonsense language, he meticulously details the theory of fencing - its immutable laws - and then step-by-step proceeds to teach footwork, guards, attacks and defenses in a series of sample scenarios married to carefuly rendered, detailed illustrations. All of this constantly references back to the theoretical framework, and where event the slightest contradiction is explained by Fabris and the reasons for the seeming "exception", made clear.
Just this section on the sword, sword and dagger and sword and cloak is longer and more detailed than the works of Capo Ferro or Giganti, Fabris' contemporaries, but he presents an entire second half that is essentially a "black-belt" course of advanced techniques unlike any other surviving rapier text. There is a lifetime of material to master in here.
This work was Fabris' opus, and rendering it into modern English has been Tom Leoni's. The raw passion for this master and his book is evident in the way Mr. Leoni has carefully translated Fabris' plain-spoken, yet elegant words into equally plain-spoken and elegant English. This does not read like a Babblefish translation, it reads like well-crafted prose. Married to this is a pair of excellent essays, describing Fabris, his world and the place of his art within that world, and a detailed, illustrated, thematic gloosary. The inclusion of the forword to a German edition of Fabris, published two generations after his death, adds more historical detail, and shows the long arm of his tradition.
Finally, the book itself is stunning, with high-quality scans of illustrations from an original manuscript, a leatherite binding and an evocative dustjacket of the author's own devising. Taken as whole, Salvator Fabris has left us a complete curriculum of rapier fencing - literally the only text you may ever need - and Tom Leoni's modern edition has set a new standard for researchers and translators in the realm of historical European swordsmanship.
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