La Scherma: The Art of Fencing, Francesco Ferdinando Alfieri

This is a "hard to find" item that my husband really wanted to read. We are so glad that it was offered on Amazon. They variety and selection ant be beat!

An excellent translation of the material. I'd been waiting a long time for this book.

Very clear and easy to understand treatise. Loved it and the overall layout. Definitely a good value if you’re new to rapier and want to get some good fundamentals. Alfieri focuses on a single rapier for most of the book and then gives some good advice on expanding that with a parrying dagger and some really interesting plays with a cloak.

This is a fascinating treatise! The master's references throughout to texts from both the Bolognese school of sidesword fencing (Marozzo) and the best known rapier schools (Capo Ferro and Salvator Fabris) show his familiarity with both traditions. He says that the commonly touted superiority of the thrust over the cut is an exaggeration, and that a broader sword can cut very effectively. All his plays involve cutting options. Also, I have noticed that his guards include both high and low versions of the standard 4 guards of rapier, which end up being in effect most of the guards of the Bolognese school (Di Testa, Porta Di Ferro etc...) The use of all these in their proper circumstances is illustrated by the master with images and diagrams.This is a very easy to follow and clearly written, clearly illustrated authentic historical fencing manual. It is especially helpful for any of us trying to better visualize what Marozzo and others in the Bolognese tradition were intending with their words. Added to this I have to say that Alfieri's work is a big boost to the morale of those of us who love the Bolognese cut and thrust style of fencing. This proves that it was seen as effective all the way right through the period of the "rapier" (just called "sword" in Italian - rapier is a Northern European concept not present in Italian, used to describe thinner, longer swords.) Marozzo was being printed well into the 17th Century, and seeing Alfieri quote him, shows the excellence of the Bolognese system and its resilience!Like many other authors, Alfieri says that you use a buckler or targa the same way as the dagger. Shields were generally illegal, which is why the dagger is the standard left-hand weapon in most of the fencing schools of the time. However, the shields were more effective defensive weapons, as everyone knew. Shields were still being used all the way into the 18th Century, and the 2 handed sword also, which Alfieri wrote a separate fencing treatise about, not included in this volume.If you only intend to buy one historical fencing manual, I strongly suggest this one be the one. It was written near the end of the Renaissance period and was written based on decades of practical fencing experience combined with just as many years of meditation on the fencing treatises of earlier masters. It incorporates both cut and thrust, allowing for preference of one over the other to depend on realistic factors like blade width and length rather than stubbornly over-rationalized philosophy or ideology. It culminates the traditions of both the rapier and the smallsword. It teaches the use of daggers and shields, and armour even! It is the clearest and easiest to understand, and the most effectively illustrated and captioned.

E' un Libro scritto da un vero maestroche spiega rapido e conciso .....ma i concetti sono MICIDIALI e profondi [ non acqua fresca come altri trattati ]Anche legger una sola pagina porta FRUTTO !Peccato perche' avrei voluto un po' piu' Pagine .... ma non sono poche !Solo cosi' BELLE ..... volevo ALTRE !

perfetta!!