Current Auction: Another “Transitional”

A few weeks ago, we examined Eight Dueling Épées.

Today, we noticed a variant of one of the older specimens up for auction: A cousin of “The Transitional”…

Words to live by 2

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

—George Washington

“Are those your fingers on the ground or are you just unhappy to see me?” Smallsword fight to the death, early 18th century

Duels look so pretty on the screen and in paintings. But sometimes, the dying that was done was not quite as pretty.

Especially when two men engaged who wanted to make sure the other was carried off the field feet first…

Swords in the News: Brown U seeks to retrieve Civil War-era sword

Sure, presentation swords aren’t our thing. Especially Civil War presentation swords.

But this looks like an interesting case that might affect the one or other collector of swords: While many of the Central European swords peddled at arms and armor shows these days qualify as “liberated” after WWII—winner takes all—there are some cases in which provenance seems to matter again…

Hark the Talking Camel: The Six Degrees of Henry Angelo

The Talking Camel is a writers’ site that Secret Archives Press is trying to get off the ground.

Since we’re not exactly fighting ‘em off right now, we’ve recycled an elderly article that ran maybe 10 years ago in FQM. Possibly, you still might enjoy it.

Patriotism may be the last refuge of scoundrels. But it’s also  one of the great sources of historical irony. The War of 1812 created one such irony, as far as the canon of classical fencing literature is concerned.

This one is quite complex, as indeed anything should be that manages to connect personages as diverse as a prominent member of the Boston Tea Party, Mad King George, the Hessian mercenaries—and the ubiquitous fencing master dynasty of the Angelos in a game that makes the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon look as one-dimensional as a Partridge Family reunion special…

Wiggle on…

Henry Angelo: Strategic Planning in Running a Salle

Running a successful fencing club takes strategic thinking. Especially if you’ve built your business on your reputation as a fencing champion. After all, champions are not self-appointed but made—by meeting challengers.

The Angelos had first-hand experience in this. And Henry Angelo seems to have been good at playing his opponents…

Tricks of the Trade: Johann Andreas Schmidt, 1713

Don’t you hate when that happens? Your opponent suddenly turns Luke Skywalker and starts using his foil with two hands…

No worries! Nuremberg’s Exercitienmeister Schmidt knows exactly what to do!

English Version: Fencing in the “Visible World” of Johann Amos Comenius

Not sure why, but we’ve been getting a ton of requests to provide English translations of our German-language contributions.

(What’s wrong with you people?)

We’re reluctantly happy to comply, starting with the shorter ones…

Smallsword; Britain, c. 1800

 

Am I overdoing the "From the Darkness of Time We Came" lighting on the pics?

Battered and blackened, but still a formidable weapon…

Smallsword; European, c. 1770

Now you see me, now you don't...

The first smallsword-on-Flecktarn-camo picture…