| Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens |
|---|
| A Thorough Description of the Art of Fencing |
 |
| Full title |
A Thorough Description of the
Free, Chivalric, and Noble Art
of Fencing, Showing Various
Customary Defenses, Affected
and Put Forth with Many
Handsome and Useful
Drawings |
|---|
| Author(s) |
Joachim Meyer |
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| Illustrated by |
|
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| Dedicated to |
Johann Casimir |
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| Place of origin |
Strasbourg, Germany |
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| Language |
Early New High German |
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| Genre(s) |
|
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| Sources |
MS A.4°.2 (1560s) |
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| Publisher |
Thiebolt Berger |
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| Publication date |
1570, 1600 |
|---|
| Pages |
433 |
|---|
| Treatise scans |
|
|---|
The title of this article contains the characters ü and ÿ. Where they are unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Gruendtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer).
Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens ("A Thorough Description of the Art of Fencing") is a German fencing manual written by Joachim Meÿer and printed in 1570. Building on his earlier 1560s work 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.[citation needed] 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,[1][2] 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
Gallery
Title pages
Illustrations
Additional Resources
- Kiermayer, Alex. Joachim Meyers Kunst Des Fechtens. Gründtliche Beschreibung des Fechtens, 1570. Arts of Mars Books, 2012. ISBN 978-3981162738
- 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
- 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
- ↑ Schaer, Alfred. Die altdeutschen fechter und spielleute: Ein beitrag zur deutschen culturgeschichte. K.J. Trübner, 1901. p 76.
- ↑ Pollock, W. H., Grove, F. C., and Prévost, C. Fencing. London and Bombay: Longmans, Green, and co, 1897. pp 267-268.
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
