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Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma (Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli)

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Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma
Great Representation of the Art and Use of Fencing
Capo Ferro Title 1610.png
Author(s) Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli
Illustrated by Rafael Schiamirossi
Dedicated to Don Federigo Feltrio della Rovere
Place of origin Siena, Tuscany
Language Italian
Genre(s) Fencing manual
Publisher Salvestro Marchetti and Camillo Turi
Publication date 1610, 1629, 1632, 1652
Pages 122 pages
Treatise scans

Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma ("Great Representation of the Art and Use of Fencing") is an Italian fencing manual written by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli and printed in 1610. It treats the use of the single rapier, as well as in conjunction with the cloak, dagger, and rotella shield. Though Capo Ferro's treatise is often praised by modern fencing historians, it was neither comprehensive nor particularly innovative and does not seem to have been terribly influential in its own time.

Publication History

Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma was first printed in Siena in 1610 by Salvestro Marchetti and Camillo Turi, with illustrations by Rafael Schiamirossi.

A second edition was printed in Siena in 1629 by Ercole Gori, and was reprinted in Bologna in 1652 by G. Longo. This edition omits the entire unillustrated portion of the treatise and begins with the "Method of Laying Hand on the Sword". The layout was changed so that the text appears below each illustration, which appear on the front side of each page with a blank back side, and replaces the plain backgrounds in seven of Schiamirossi's original illustrations with intricate depictions of scenes from the Bible and Greek mythology.

A third edition, was printed in 1632, also in Siena, by Bernardino Capitelli. This likewise omits the unillustrated portion, and also truncates the descriptions of the plays. It includes new simplified illustrations, removing the backgrounds and scaled down to one quarter size.

Capo Ferro's treatise has been published in English at least three times. Jared Kirby's translation was published in London in 2004 by Greenhill Books under the title Italian Rapier Combat: Ridolfo Capo Ferro's 'Gran Simulacro'; Nick S. Thomas's translation was published in 2007 by Swordworks Books under the title Rapier: The Art and Use of Fencing by Ridolfo Capo Ferro; and Tom Leoni's translation was published in 2011 by Freelance Academy Press under the title Ridolfo Capoferro's The Art and Practice of Fencing: A Practical Translation for the Modern Swordsman.

Contents

Ir - IVv Preface by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli
1 - 73 Rapier by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli
74 - 103,
108 - 115
Rapier and dagger by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli
104 - 107 Rapier and cloak by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli
116 - 120 Rapier and rotella by Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli

Gallery

Title Pages

1610 Title Page
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1629 Title Page
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1632 Title Page
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1652 Title Page
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Illustrations

Heraldry
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Portrait
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Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Figure 3
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Figure 4
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Figure 5
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Figure 6
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Figure 7
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Figure 8
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Figure 9
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Figure 10
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Figure 11
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Figure 12
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Figure 13
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Figure 14
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Figure 15
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Figure 16
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Figure 17
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Figure 18
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Figure 19
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Figure 20
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Figure 21
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Figure 22
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Figure 23
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Figure 24
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Figure 25
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Figure 26
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Figure 27
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Figure 28
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Figure 29
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Figure 30
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Figure 31
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Figure 32
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Figure 33
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Figure 34
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Figure 35
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Figure 36
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Figure 37
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Figure 38
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Figure 39
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Figure 40
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Figure 41
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Figure 42
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Figure 43
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1629 Illustrations

A copy of the 1629 edition in the Biblioteca Oliveriana contains seventeen watercolor illustrations; these are included below along with the remainder of the seven illustrations that were enhanced in this edition.

Heraldry
Capo Ferro 1629 Coat of Arms small.png
Portrait
Capo Ferro 1629 Portrait small.png
Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Figure 4
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Figure 5
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Figure 7
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Figure 8
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Figure 12
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Figure 13
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Figure 22
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Figure 23
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Figure 24
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Figure 25
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Figure 26
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Figure 27
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Figure 30
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Figure 36
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Figure 40
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1652 Illustrations

The source of these additional watercolors is a copy of the 1652 edition that has not yet been identified.

Figure 6
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Figure 14
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Figure 21
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Figure 34
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Additional Resources

  • Capo Ferro, Ridolfo (2004). Italian Rapier Combat: Ridolfo Capo Ferro's 'Gran Simulacro'. Trans. by Jared Kirby. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1853675805.
  • Capo Ferro, Ridolfo (2007). Rapier: The Art and Use of Fencing by Ridolfo Capo Ferro. Trans. by Nick S. Thomas. SwordWorks. ISBN 978-1906512279.
  • Garcia-Salmones, Eugenio (2009). Ridolfo Capoferro, "Gran simulacro del arte y del uso de la esgrima", Traduccion al castellano. Editorial Sacauntos. ISBN 978-84-937207-0-4.
  • Leoni, Tom (2011). Ridolfo Capoferro's The Art and Practice of Fencing: A Practical Translation for the Modern Swordsman. Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press. ISBN 978-0-9825911-9-2.

References

Copyright and License Summary

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

Work Author(s) Source License
Images (1610) Rafael Schiamirossi Internet Culturale
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Images (1629) Biblioteca Oliveriana
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Transcription (1610) Società d’Arme dell’Aquila Index:Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma (Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli)
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Transcription (1632)
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