Translation or Transcription: These are literal updates of period sources to modern language and typesetting. These can be much easier to read and understand compared to the reproductions but the translator may introduce some misunderstandings. Period English translations, particularly of Italian manuals, also exist.
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Academy of the Sword, Gerard Thibault d’Anvers, 1630, John Michael Greer ISBN 978-1904658849, $60.
Llwyd says: A very nice modern translation describing the Spanish school of fencing.
Art of Dueling, Salvator Fabris, 1606, ISBN 1891448234, $40.
Llwyd says: A wonderful modern translation by Tom Leoni describing an Italian school of rapier. Highly recommended.
Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise, Camillo Agrippa, Ken Mondschein, 2009, ISBN 1599101297, $19.
Llwyd says: Translation of Agrippa’s 1553 manual with an extensive and well researched introduction.
Fiore de’ Liberi’s Fior di Battaglia M.S. Getty Ludwig XV 13 Italian Swordsmanship Treatise, Leoni, Tom, $30,
Llwyd says: Fiore describes a complete combat system including wrestling, dagger, sword, two handed sword, pike, mounted, and armored combat. Originally published in 1409. This is an excellent translation of the text from the Getty copy of Fiore. I have an edition labeled “rev 4”. A later “2nd English Edition” is available from Freelance Academy Press. My copy has no illustrations at all.
Find it on Freelance Academy Press
A Gentleman’s Guide to Duelling: Of Honour and Honourable Quarrels, Vincentio Saviolo, Jared Kirby, 2014, ISBN 1848325274, $30.
Llwyd says: 1594 book on conducting duels with 2014 biography and annotations.
Italian Rapier Combat, Capo Ferro’s Gran Simulacro, Kirby, Jared 1610, ISBN 1853675806, $40.
Llwyd says: This is a modern translation including excellent reproductions of the original plates.
The ‘Lost’ Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti(1608): A Rapier Fencing Treatise, by Nicoletto Giganti (Author), Piermarco Terminiello and Joshua Pendragon (Translators), 2013, ISBN 1909348317, $18.
Llwyd says: 2013 Translation of a 1608 Italian rapier book.
Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat, Talhoffer, Hans, 1467, Mark Rector, ISBN 1853675822, $16.
Llwyd says: Modern translation and reproductionof the 15th Century “fight-book” showing techniques for a wide variety of weapons forms. The bulk of the book is full page copies of the original with a translated caption for each page.
Nicoletto Giganti’s The School of the Sword: A New Translation, Aaron Taylor Miedema, 2014, ISBN 192753707X, $17
Llwyd says: Translation and adaptation of Giganti’s 1619 manual.
Ridolfo Capoferro’s The Art and Practice of Fencing: A Practical Translation for the Modern Swordsman, Leoni, Tom, ISBN 978-0-9825911-9-2, $25.
Llwyd says: An excellent translation of Capoferro’s work with very good reproductions of the original plates.
Find it on Freelance Academy Press
The Single Sword of Henry de Sainct Didier, Henry de Sainct-Didier, Robert Preston Hyatt and Devin Wilson, 2009, ISBN 1581607040, $26.
Llwyd says: Translation and interpretation of 1573 French manual.
Treatise on the Subject of Fencing: Marco Docciolini’s 1601 Fencing Treatise, Marco Docciolini (Author), Piermarco Terminiello (Translator), Steven Reich (Translator), 2017, ISBN 978-1910462010, $20
Venetian Rapier, The School, or Salle: Nicoletto Giganti’s 1606 Rapier Fencing Curriculum, Leoni, Tom, ISBN 978-0-9825911-2-3, $20
Llwyd says: An excellent modern translation of Giganti’s text with plates.
Find it on Freelance Academy Press
Veni Vadi Vici, A transcription, translation and commentary of Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi , Guy Windsor, 2013, ISBN 9529316860, $21.
Llwyd says: C 1482 Italian manual describing an evolution from Fiore and Liechtenaur’s earlier work with excellent translation and explanation by Windsor.