Treatises/Manuscript purgatory

Items in red have not yet been verified with the holding library.

Purgatory

M	Title	Year	Call number	Author	Location	Notes
No	The Book of Feats of Arms and Chivalry	before 1430	Lots	Christine de Pisan	BnF, etc.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_de_Pizan http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rosenwald.0570 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8448959c http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6000099t http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84489727 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8448955q http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9058872d http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449705f http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8451466w http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB000017D900000000
No		1474		Jaime Pons de Perpiñan		Jaime Pons de Perpiñan was a 15th century Spanish fencing master. According to various sources he was born in Majorca, but eventually moved to Perpiñan, where he is credited with publishing a fencing manual in 1474, which is presumed to have been written in Catalan. (Given the early date, this was probably a manuscript and not a published work in the modern sense.) Unfortunately, no extant copies of his work are known today, but there are references to him and his swordsmanship in later works, along with his contemporary, Pedro de la Torre, and the later Francisco Román. "The work is a minimum of 66 folios long, and covers sword and buckler, montante, sword and dagger, sword and cloak, dagger alone, trips and disarms (including one named “quail's wing”), and sword alone against spear or pike. Sword and buckler appears on the first page and throughout the pages referenced, so it is possibly the primary weapon combination. There does not appear to be a clear separation of instruction by weapon or combination based on the references. Two postures are taught, one high and one low, which are also used to invite attacks." Compilation of references by Tim Rivera: http://spanishsword.org/files/references.pons.pdf
No		1474		Pedro de la Torre/Petrus de Turri		"Little is known about this 15th century maestro, but his treatise on fencing is one of the oldest known detailing a style of Iberian swordplay. It is also important for being a possible origin for the Iberian method of fighting with two swords. Any surviving copies of this work have not yet been located. The year of publication is cited in other works as 1474. "This work is at least 124 folios long, and is separated into at least two parts. Folio 58 is cited as being in chapter three, so it is likely that the second part starts before then. The treatise covers sword alone, dagger alone, sword and shield, montante, sword and cloak, two swords, sword and dagger, and sword alone against spear. Sword alone is likely the principal weapon, as it is called the queen of weapons. The two-sword method was created by the author. There are four principal guards: one at each shoulder and hip." Compilation of references by Tim Rivera: http://spanishsword.org/files/references.delatorre.pdf
No	De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi	ca. 1480s		Philippo di Vadi	Vatican Library	Possible second copy of De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (Cod.1324)
No		1500s		Anonymous		Listed by Wassmannsdorff http://google.com/books/reader?id=hb1AAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA185
No	Tratado de la esgrima con figuras por Francisco Román natural de Carmona	1532		Francisco Román		Published: Bartolome Perez, Sevilla, 1532 "This 16th century maestro from Seville is credited with much of the development of the montante rules. His treatise also important for being one of the few pre-Carranza texts on Iberian swordplay. Any surviving copies of this work have not yet been located. The year of publication is cited in other works as 1532. "The length of this work is unknown, as the highest folio number cited is 13. It covers at least the montante, sword alone, sword and shield, sword and cloak, and throws. Sword alone is called the queen of weapons, but montante is called the principal weapon and the eagle of weapons. However, it is also said that the sword and shield is the best of all, and that the sword is the foundation of all shields." Compilation of references by Tim Rivera: http://spanishsword.org/files/references.roman.pdf
No		1556		Johannes Bierchenauwer		19th century facsimile possibly exists
No		1580				See: VALLE ORTÍZ, M.J. and CURTIS, M.D. “Un texto de esgrima española del siglo XVI.” Materiales para la Historia del Deporte. 7. (2009): p.35-42 Translation by Tim Rivera: http://spanishsword.org/files/early.iberian.fencing.pdf
Yes	Il Disegno Del signor Cesare Pagano, Cavaliere Nopoletano, su'l vero Teatro di Marte, Per la Teorica della Schrimia, All' Altezza, di Don Ferdinando, de Medeci, Gran Duca di Toscana	1592		Cesare Pagani	Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze	(XIX, 194, Magliabecchiana) This is mentioned by Gelli. It is dated 1592, and Cesare declares himself a relative (possibly a nephew) of Marcantoio Pagano, who published his treatise in 1553. This is a weird one. It is in a good state of conservation, written in a beautifully clear hand and in a mostly not too obtuse Italian. The who thing was quite pricey to scan so I ordered the first 1/3 (which came to over 150 pages) to have a look and never followed up the next 2/3 as it is 99% irrelevant to the practical study of fencing. Instead it is literally stuffed with classical references but also observations about the natural world and sundry other digressions; there are no techniques and only scattered pieces of very general fencing advice.
Yes	Confectbuch von Abrichtung vollständiges Turnierbuch	1598	Cod. Guelf. 1.6.3 Aug. 2°	Jeremias Schemels von Augsburg	Herzog-August Bibliothek	Original: http://diglib.hab.de/mss/1-6-3-aug-2f/start.htm Second one in the same library in the Blankenburg collection (Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, 5 Blankenburg) ?
No	Confectbuch von Abrichtung vollständiges Turnierbuch	1598		Jeremias Schemels von Augsburg	Kunsthistorisches Museum
Yes		Late 1500s or early 1600s	Add. Ms. 23223		British Library	This is listed by Castle, and is catalogued as 17th Century but the content itself seems more consistent with 16th century treatises. A black and white, easily readable, scan is inexpensive from the BL. It is handwritten in Italian, no illustrations, in two separate hands which are both fairly easy to read, although some of the pages are damaged and it is reasonable brief (the scan is 96 pages including blanks). Interestingly it uses the same guard nomenclature as Altoni with high, medium and low guards, and primarily discusses the single sword, sword and dagger, sword and cape and sword and rotella. The way it is organised is unusual, in that rather than relegating the rotella to a section of its own like most comparable treatises, it has a section on say the high guard, then explains how this applies to the single sword, sword and dagger, sword and cape and sword and rotella. It also very briefly mentions polearms, the spadone and two swords, which makes a nice round 10 Italian sources (alone) that includes two swords (Manciolino, Marozzo, Altoni, Agrippa, Di Grassi, Lovino, Lucino, Palladini, Docciolini, and this one). It is anonymous and it contains no overt contextual references (on an initial scan) to tie it down temporally or geographically. My gut feeling however is that it is Tuscan and late 16th century. In addition to guard nomenclature, it appears to have further commonalities with Altoni (for example it mentions the “zagaglia” as a pole weapon, which does not appear in any other known treatises except Altoni). The language appears quite “modern” and there are no glaring dialectal traits on an initial reading, but not inconsistent with a Tuscan/Central Italian origin…
No	Discorso del Gioco di Spada dell'Orafo di Cremona (Discourse on the Play of the Sword by the Goldsmith of Cremona)	Early 1600s	Urb.lat.1231 Cod. vatic. Urbin. 1231	Orafo di Cremona	Vatican Library Vatican Library (Fondo Urbinate), Rome	This was relatively inexpensive as a copy from microfilm, however the scan is very bad and the words quite hard to read. This manuscript previously belonged to Gelli, and is described here: http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?92497-New-Manuscript-Orafo-di-Cremona On a quick scan through there is little or no non technical content to put the treatises into context, and the scan is so faint in places I haven't managed to force myself to read it. It seems to have only two guards, the “diritta” and “roverscia”.
Yes	Fechtbuch des einfachen Rapiers / Fechtbuch in Rapier und Dolchen	1611	Mss. germ. qu. 1190/1191	Hans Wilhelm Schöffer von Dietz	Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin	(Single rapier, dated 1611. Many ink drawings. Belonged to Erasmus von Starhemberg, who owned another well-known Fechtbuch.) Ms. germ. qu. 1190, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz Mayster Hans Wilhelm: Fechtbuch des einfachen Rapiers (single rapier) 318 folios · 1611 (Another book by the same master, this one on rapier & dagger) Ms. germ. qu. 1191, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz Mayster Hans Wilhelm: Fechtbuch in Rapier und Dolchen 327 Blatt · 1611 ~ Matt G. Archetype for Grůndtliche vñ eigentlichte Beschreibung der Fechtkunst? Archetype for earlier publication of same in two volumes, making the 1620 a compilation reprint? Possibly the same as or related to 4º MS Math.2
Yes	Anfangs Gründe der Edeln Fechtkunst	1744-1763	MS B 215	Salomon Christoph Müller	Universiätsbibliothek Erlangen	Paper 99 fol. German manuscript on the smallsword: Hs. B 215 at the University Library in Erlangen, Germany. It dates from around 1750, and was written by Salomon Christoph Mueller, the court fencing master for the Brandenburg court at Ansbach. The manuscript was originally in the palace library at Ansbach. The work is entitled Anfangs Gruende der Fechtkunst (Foundations of Fencing), and consists of two volumes: Vol. I has 56 pages and 81 plates. Vol II has 60 pages and 114 plates (many of which deal with left-handed fencing). The illustrations are ink drawings with watercolor. This sounds like an interesting work by someone who must have been a fairly prominent master. ~Matt G.
No	Abregé de l'exercice des armes[. Necéssaire à la jeunesse de savoir, pour pouvoir se deffendre avec son espée]	1767	MS E.1939.65.459	G. Belfin	RL Scott Luxembourg (place of manufacture)	Paper, vellum Manuscript entitled, 'Abrege De L'Exercice Des Armes', by G Belfin. Published Luxembourg, 1767. Subject classification: Fencing - French, 18th century. Bookplate with coat of arms
No	Traite Des Armes	1797	MS E.1939.65.489	Theophile-Malo Corret de La Tour D'Auvergne	RL Scott	Manuscript by author, 'Traite Des Armes', by Theophile-Malo Corret De La Tour D'Auvergne. Published 1797. Subject classification: Fencing - French, 18th century NB letter inside giving history of this MS, Rouen, 1900 Also typed paragraph about the book

Morgue

M	Title	Year	Call number	Author	Location	Notes
No	Die Art und Weise, anzugreifen und zu verteidigen (?)	1295		Francesco Giacomo Guglielmo and Filippo Del Serpente		Language, location, and state of existence unknown.
No	Fior di Battaglia	Early 15th century	Ms. 84	Fiore de'i Liberi	Biblioteca Estense	Last seen 1508
No	Fior di Battaglia	Early 15th century	Ms. 110	Fiore de'i Liberi	Biblioteca Estense	Last seen 1508
No		1434		Filippo di Bartolomeo Dardi		Lost
No		1515		J. Schwerer	Formerly Ortenburg'sche Bibliothek zu Tambach	o.S. verschollen – bei WELLE aufgeführt, W 08
No	Opera de Scherma	1532		Guido Antonio di Luca		Lost
No	Rast Fechtbuch	ca. 1549		Antonius Rast		Purchased at auction by Paulus Hector Mair, used to create the Reichstadt Nr. 82 in 1553.
No	Kunst des Fechtens	1561		Joachim Meyer		Lost as of the mid 20th century. http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/1561-joachim-meyer-dedicated-a-fencing-book-to-the-pfalzgrafen-of-pfalz-veldenz-2/
No	Cabinet d'escrime de l'espee et poingnardt	1585		Captain Peloquin		Source for MS KB.73.J.39
No	Compendio y Philosophia y Dztreza de las Armas	1625		Octavio Ferrara		Traced by Archibald Corble in the early 20th century to create the MS R4-B274.