The De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi ("On the Art of Swordsmanship", Vittorio Emanuele 1324), is an Italian fencing manual by Philippo di Vadi of Pisa, probably created between 1482 and 1487.[1] The original currently rests in the Vittorio Emanuele II collection of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma in Rome, Italy. The main body of text is largely a redaction of the writings of Fiore de'i Liberi, generally repeating the text of Liberi's Flos Duellatorum; the layout is likewise very similar to that of his later Florius de Arte Luctandi. It seems almost certain that Vadi stood in the tradition of Liberi, or at the very least possessed a copy of his fencing manual. However, this manuscript cannot be written off as a mere plagiarism of Liberi, as it augments his offering with a lengthy, sixteen chapter introduction that illuminates many of the subtleties of Medieval Italian fencing.
Provenance
The known provenance of the Vittorio Emanuele 1324 is:[2][3]
- Written in the late 1400s. Gifted by Philippo di Vadi to Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro between 1482 and 1487.
- 1480s-1502 – Held in the Ducal Library at Urbino (disappeared during Cesare Borgia's conquest in 1502).
- 1500s – "Di Francescho a leoni battiloro e de sua amici" inscribed inside the cover in a 16th century hand.
- before 1838 – Acquired by British book dealer JT Payne (sold London, JT Payne, 1838).
- 1838-1872 – Owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), mistakenly listed twice as Mss. Ph. 11725 and 13545 (purchased London, JT Payne, 1838).
- 1885-1938 – Owned by Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick (1856-1938), who took control of Phillipps Library in 1885 after a protracted legal dispute (sold London, 1946).
- 1946-1967 – Owned by book dealers Phillip and Lionel Robinson, who purchased the "residue" of Phillipps Library, including Mss. Ph. 11725&13545, for £100,000 (sold London, Sotheby's, 1967).
- 1967-present – Purchased by the Italian Ministry of Education, stored at Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.
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