View source for Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer)

{{Infobox book
<!-- --------Name---------->
| name                      = Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens
| subtitle                  = [[title::A Thorough Description of the Art of Fencing]]
<!----------Image---------->
| image                     = File:Meyer 1570 Cover.jpg
| width                     = 
| caption                   = 
<!----------Information---------->
| full title                = A Thorough Description of the <br/>Free, Chivalric, and Noble Art <br/>of Fencing, Showing Various <br/>Customary Defenses, Affected <br/>and Put Forth with Many <br/>Handsome and Useful <br/>Drawings
| also known as             = 
| author(s)                 = [[author::Joachim Meyer]]
| ascribed to               = 
| compiled by               = 
| illustrated by            = {{plainlist
 | [[artist::Tobias Stimmer]]’s workshop
 | (inc. [[artist::Hans Christoffel Stimmer]])
}}
| translator(s)             = 
| patron                    = 
| dedicated to              = Johann Casimir
| place of origin           = Strasbourg, Germany
| language                  = [[language::Early New High German]]
| subject                   = 
| genre                     = {{plainlist
 | [[type::Fencing manual]]
 | [[type::Wrestling manual]]
}}
| sources                   = [[Joachim Meyers Fäktbok (MS A.4º.2)|MS A.4°.2]] (1560s)
| publisher                 = [[publisher::Thiebolt Berger]]
| pub_date                  = [[year::1570,&nbsp;1600]]
| first English edition     = 
| pages                     = 433
| extant copies             = 
| wiktenauer compilation by = 
| images                    = {{collapsible list
 | [http://www.draupnirpress.com/CC/creativecommons.html Restored images] (1570)
 | [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00024580/image_1 Digital scans] (1570)
 | [http://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}ORAcHTuc-VAC Digital scans] (1570)
 | [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00024583/image_1 Digital scans] (1600)
 | [http://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}cTpaAAAAcAAJ Digital scans] (1600)
 | [http://books.google.com/books?id{{=}}gFOj9iFHRKkC Digital scans] (1600)
 | [http://www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord/pdfs/Meyer_1600.pdf B&W photocopy] (1600)
}}
| below                     = 
}}
{{foreignchar|Gruendtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer)|ü|ÿ}}
'''''Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens''''' ("A Thorough Description of the Art of Fencing") is a [[nationality::German]] [[fencing manual]] written by [[Joachim Meÿer]] and printed in 1570. Building on his earlier 1560s work [[Joachim Meyers Fäktbok (MS A.4º.2)|MS A.4°.2]], it is a complex, sophisticated treatise purports to teach the entire art of fencing, something that Meyer claimed had never been done before, and represents a significant evolution of the art that Johannes Liechtenauer taught two centuries earlier. It treats the [[longsword]], [[Dussack]], [[side sword]] (both single and with secondary weapons), [[dagger]], and various [[pole weapons]] including the short staff, halberd, and long staff.

== Publication History ==

The first edition of ''Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens'' was printed in Strasbourg by Thiebolt Berger in 1570, some months before Meyer's death; it may have been reprinted there in 1590.{{cn}} A second edition was printed in Augsburg in 1600, possibly arranged by his widow and her family. According to some sources, there were further editions printed in 1610 and in 1660,<ref>Schaer, Alfred. {{Google books|0egSAAAAYAAJ|Die altdeutschen fechter und spielleute: Ein beitrag zur deutschen culturgeschichte|page=76}}. K.J. Trübner, 1901. p 76.</ref><ref>Pollock, W. H., Grove, F. C., and Prévost, C. {{Google books|OXSZ8FjBfhkC|Fencing|page=267}}. London and Bombay: Longmans, Green, and co, 1897. pp 267-268.</ref> though no copies from these printings are known to exist. In 2012, a new edition in modernized German was produced by [[Alex Kiermayer]] and printed by Arts Of Mars Books under the title ''Joachim Meyers Kunst Des Fechtens. Gründtliche Beschreibung des Fechtens, 1570.''

In 2006, Meyer's treatise was translated into English by Dr. [[Jeffrey L. Forgeng]] and published in New York and London under the title ''The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570''. A second edition was released in 2014.

== Contents ==

{| class="treatise"
|- 
! id="page" | [[Joachim Meyer|A1r - B4v]]
| Preface by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|1.1r - 1.64v]]
| Part 1 - [[Long Sword]] by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|2.1r - 2.49v]]
| Part 2 - [[Dussack]] by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|2.50r - 2.107v]]
| Part 3 - [[Side sword]] by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|3.1r - 3.15v]]
| Part 4 - [[Dagger]] by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|3.16r - 3.47r]]
| Part 5 - [[Staff]] by [[Joachim Meyer]]

|- 
! [[Joachim Meyer|3.47v]]
| Corrections

|}

== Gallery ==

<h3> Title pages </h3>

{{image|Meyer 1570 Cover.jpg|First Edition}}
{{image|Meyer 1600 Cover.jpg|Second Edition}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Crest.jpg|Johan Casimir's arms}}

<h3 style="clear:both;"> Illustrations </h3>

{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword Cuts.jpg|Cutting Diagram 1|width=100px}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword Segno.jpg|Cutting Diagram 2|width=100px}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword A.jpg|Longsword A}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword B.jpg|Longsword B}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword C.jpg|Longsword C}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword D.jpg|Longsword D}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword E.jpg|Longsword E}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword F.jpg|Longsword F}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword G.jpg|Longsword G}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword H.jpg|Longsword H}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword I.jpg|Longsword I}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword K.jpg|Longsword K}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword L.jpg|Longsword L}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword M.jpg|Longsword M}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword N.jpg|Longsword N}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Longsword O.jpg|Longsword O}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer A.jpg|Dussack A}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer B.jpg|Dussack B}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer C.jpg|Dussack C}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer D.jpg|Dussack D}}
{{image|ph=1|Skipped|Dussack E}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer F.jpg|Dussack F}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer G.jpg|Dussack G}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer H.jpg|Dussack H}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer I.jpg|Dussack I}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer K.jpg|Dussack K}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer L.jpg|Dussack L}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer M.jpg|Dussack M}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer N.jpg|Dussack N}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer O.jpg|Dussack O}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Messer P.jpg|Dussack P}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Portrait 1.jpg|Meyer Portrait 1}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Portrait 2.jpg|Meyer Portrait 2|width=x120px}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Portrait 3.jpg|Meyer Portrait 3}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Portrait 4.jpg|Meyer Portrait 4}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier A.jpg|Rapier A}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier B.jpg|Rapier B}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier C.jpg|Rapier C}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier D.jpg|Rapier D}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier E.jpg|Rapier E}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier F.jpg|Rapier F}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier G.jpg|Rapier G}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier G2.jpg|Rapier G'}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier H.jpg|Rapier H}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Rapier I.jpg|Rapier I}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger A.jpg|Dagger A}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger A2.jpg|Dagger A'}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger B.jpg|Dagger B}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger C.jpg|Dagger C}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger D.jpg|Dagger D}}
{{image|ph=1|Skipped|Dagger E}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Dagger F.jpg|Dagger F}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff A.jpg|Staff A}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff B.jpg|Staff B}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff C.jpg|Staff C}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff D.jpg|Staff D}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff E.jpg|Staff E}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff F.jpg|Staff F}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff G.jpg|Staff G}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff H.jpg|Staff H}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff I.jpg|Staff I}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff K.jpg|Staff K}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff L.jpg|Staff L}}
{{image|Meyer 1570 Staff M.jpg|Staff M}}

== Additional Resources ==

* [[Alex Kiermayer|Kiermayer, Alex]]. ''Joachim Meyers Kunst Des Fechtens. Gründtliche Beschreibung des Fechtens, 1570''. [[Arts of Mars Books]], 2012. ISBN 978-3981162738
* [[Joachim Meyer|Meyer, Joachim]]. ''Joachim Meyer 1600: Transkription des Fechtbuchs 'Gründtliche Beschreibung der freyen Ritterlichen und Adelichen kunst des Fechtens’''. TAT. [[Wolfgang Landwehr]], 2011. ISBN 978-3932077371
* [[Joachim Meyer|Meyer, Joachim]]. ''The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570''. Trans. [[Jeffrey L. Forgeng]].
** 1st Edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4039-7092-0
** 2nd edition. London: Frontline Books, 2014. ISBN 978-1-84832-778-8

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Copyright and License Summary ==

For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the [[Talk:{{PAGENAME}}|discussion page]].

<section begin="sourcebox"/>{{sourcebox header}}
{{sourcebox
 | work        = Images
 | authors     = [[Tobias Stimmer]]'s workshop
 | source link = 
 | source title= Meyer Frei Fechter Guild
 | license     = public domain
}}
{{sourcebox
 | work        = Images (Longsword)
 | authors     = Restored by [[Heidi Zimmerman]]
 | source link = http://www.draupnirpress.com/CC/creativecommons.html
 | source title= Draupnir Press
 | license     = noncommercial
}}
{{sourcebox
 | work        = Transcription
 | authors     = 
 | source link = 
 | source title= [[Index:Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meÿer) 1570.pdf|Index:Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens]]
 | license     = public domain
}}
{{sourcebox footer}}<section end="sourcebox"/>

[[Category:Treatises]]
[[Category:Books]]