Della Scherma (MS 381)

Della Scherma
MS 381, Fürstliche Sammlung Palais Liechtenstein Vienna, Austria
Hagedorn — Leng —
Wierschin — Hils —
Also known as	N-6-15
Type	Fencing manual
Date	1614
Language(s)	Italian
Author(s)	Three unknown authors
Scribe(s)	Unknown
Material	Paper, 3 big stitches
Size	27 folia (210 mm × 330 mm), with 30 lines on each page
Format	Double-sided, with black ink and pencil
Identified	Harald Winter, 2015

Della Scherma ("On Fencing"; MS 381) is an anonymous Italian fencing manual written in September of 1614. The original currently rests in the holdings of the fürstliche Sammlung des Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna, Austria. It contains a brief original treatise on the use of the rapier.

After a first brief overview of the text it seems to be obvious that the manuscript is based on Salvator Fabris and the side and foot notes are done by a student or a different master and should give hints how the text should be understood. So this manual could be one of the best latest finds.

The manuscript consists of 53 paper pages (3 single pages followed by 12 bifolia) sewn together in a single gathering with three wide (app. 50mm length) stitches. The bastard title is made out of 2 sheets of rough cardboard with the texture of blotting paper. It is clotted together with scotch tape made of paper.

The bastard title contains four different titles:

1. in the top left corner: "Scherma" (pencil writing - modern handwriting)
2. in the middle at the top: "Q" (brown ink)
3. in the top right corner: "Vom Fechten" (pencil writing in Bastarda)
4. below the top left corner title: "Fechtkunst in Italien...." (black ink maybe from the 19th or 20th century)

The manuscript is the work of at least three unknown scribes: one is the primary scribe who wrote the treatise itself, while the other two are annotators who made only marginal notes. One of the annotators wrote with a pencil and only made minor notes on the side of the pages, while the other one used ink and sometimes made major changes in the manuscript. The primary scribe started his writing approximately 50 mm inside of the left edge, but continued until the very last millimeter of the right side. This brings up some problems in reading the verso side because some lines disappear into the folding of the manuscript.

A watermark is available once on each sheet, which means it is only to be seen on the first half of the manuscript. The sign looks like a heraldic shield with some kind of castle on top of it and a diamond patterned section in the top right and bottom left corner of the shield.

All in all, the manuscript is in a fair shape. The edges do look like mice had some fun with it, but the paper is in a good condition and far from being rotten.

Contents

Ir - 1v	Front matter
2r - 27v	Anonymous rapier treatise

Gallery

Watermark

Codex Sheet

Front Bastard Title

Catalogue Number

Index Page

1

2

3

4

5

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54

Additional Resources

The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.

• Vienna Anonymous on Fencing: a Rapier Masterclass from the 17th Century (2019). Trans. by Tom Leoni. Self-published. ISBN 978-0-359-55304-4.

Copyright and License Summary

For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.

Work	Author(s)	Source	License
Images	Harald Winter	Fürstliche Sammlung des Palais Liechtenstein
Transcription		Index:Della Scherma (MS 381)

Additional Image Note: The Fürstliche Sammlung des Palais Liechtenstein allows these images to be used under the condition that any transcription authored based on them be forwarded to the library for their records.