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Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti)

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Scola, overo teatro
School, or Theater
Giganti Title 1606.png
Full title Scola, overo teatro, nelquale sono
rappresentate diverse maniere, e modi di
parare, e di ferire di spada sola, e di spada,
e pugnala
Author(s) Nicoletto Giganti
Illustrated by Odoarco Fialetti
Dedicated to Cosimo II de' Medici
Place of origin Siena, Tuscany
Language Italian
Genre(s) Fencing manual
Publisher Giovanni Antonio & Giacomo de' Franceschi
Publication date 1606, 1610, 1619, 1622, 1628, 1644
Pages 95 pages
Treatise scans

Scola, overo teatro ("School, or Theater") is an Italian fencing manual written by Nicoletto Giganti and printed in 1606. It treats the use of the single rapier and the rapier and dagger. The treatise is structured as a series of progressively more complex lessons, and Tom Leoni opines that this treatise is the best pedagogical work on rapier fencing of its time.[1] Based on the number of republications over the succeeding decades it seems to have been quite popular, and fencing historians have praised it both for its organization and as the first text to fully describe the use of the lunge.

Publication History

Scola, overo teatro was first printed in Venice in 1606 by Giovanni Antonio and Giacomo de' Franceschi, with illustrations by Odoarco Fialetti. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany granted Giganti a special protection against unauthorized reprints for a term of 30 years, including a fine of 300 ducats. This copyright was repeatedly ignored, however, including a 1628 edition published in Padua by Paolo Frambotto, which included an additional dedication from the publisher to Lazaro Stubick di Kœnigstein. Bibliographies also list printings in 1608 and 1610; the first is probably a mistaken reference to Libro secondo, whereas the second seems to be spurious (or possibly a mistaken reference to the treatise of Ridolfo Capo Ferro).

In 1619, still within the copyright period, the treatise was translated into French and German and published in Frankfurt by Jacob de Zeter. He published it under separate French and German titles, Escrime Novvelle ov Theatre ("New Fencing or Theater") and Newe Fechtkunst Oder Schawplatz ("New Fencing Art or Show Place") respectively, containing the main text in both languages but the preface in only one. This edition is often bound with Zetter's 1622 translation of book II of Salvator Fabris' treatise,[2], but it's unclear if this represents a new printing of the Giganti edition or a separate work that was added to it in order to increase sales.[3] This edition has oddly lead various fencing historians to accuse Giganti himself of plagiarism.[4] In 1644, unsold copies were sold as a new edition, including a new title page but merely covering the year 1622 on the title of the second section with a paper saying "1644".

In 2010, Scola, overo teatro was translated into English by Tom Leoni and published by Freelance Academy Press under the title Venetian Rapier: The School, or Salle. A second English translation, titled Nicoletto Giganti's the School of the Sword was released in 2014 by Aaron Taylor Mediema.

Contents

i - v Preface by Nicoletto Giganti
vii - xiv Publisher's preface
1 - 47 Rapier by Nicoletto Giganti
48 - 95 Rapier and dagger by Nicoletto Giganti

Gallery

Title pages

1606
Giganti Title 1606.png
1619 (French)
Giganti French Title 1619.png
1619 (German)
Giganti German Title 1619.png
1628
Giganti Title 1628.png
1644 (French)
150x125px
1644 (German)
Giganti German Title 1644.jpg

Illustrations

Medici Heraldry
Giganti Medici Heraldry.png
Portrait
Nicoletto Giganti portrait 1606.png
Figure 1
Giganti 01.png
Figure 2
Giganti 02.png
Figure 3
Giganti 03.png
Figure 4
Giganti 04.png
Figure 5
Giganti 05.png
Figure 6
Giganti 06.png
Figure 7
Giganti 07.png
Figure 8
Giganti 08.png
Figure 9
Giganti 09.png
Figure 10
Giganti 10.png
Figure 11
Giganti 11.png
Figure 12
Giganti 12.png
Figure 13
Giganti 13.png
Figure 14
Giganti 14.png
Figure 15
Giganti 15.png
Figure 16
Giganti 16.png
Figure 17
Giganti 17.png
Figure 18
Giganti 18.png
Figure 19
Giganti 19.png
Figure 20
Giganti 20.png
Figure 21
Giganti 21.png
Figure 22
Giganti 22.png
Figure 23
Giganti 23.png
Figure 24
Giganti 24.png
Figure 25
Giganti 25.png
Figure 26
Giganti 26.png
Figure 27
Giganti 27.png
Figure 28
Giganti 28.png
Figure 29
Giganti 29.png
Figure 30
Giganti 30.png
Figure 31
Giganti 31.png
Figure 32
Giganti 32.png
Figure 33
Giganti 33.png
Figure 34
Giganti 34.png
Figure 35
Giganti 35.png
Figure 36
Giganti 36.png
Figure 37
Giganti 37.png
Figure 38
Giganti 38.png
Figure 39
Giganti 39.png
Figure 40
Giganti 40.png
Figure 41
Giganti 41.png
Figure 42
Giganti 42.png


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.

References

  1. ↑ Leoni, p xi.
  2. ↑ The Fabris edition might also have been published in 1619, but no extant copies of the 1619 seem to include it.
  3. ↑ All extant copies are dated 1619 in the Giganti portion and 1622 in the Fabris portion.
  4. ↑ This accusation was first made by Johann Joachim Hynitzsch, who attributed the edition to Giganti rather than Zeter and was incensed that he gave no credit to Fabris.

Copyright and License Summary

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

Work Author(s) Source License
Images Odoarco Fialetti Corble Collection
Public Domain.png
Transcription Jeff Vansteenkiste Index:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti)
CCBYNCSA30.png
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