Full Description
In late Victorian England, even as the sword was being rendered useless on the battlefield, swordsmanship was experiencing a unique revival. Captain Alfred Hutton and Egerton Castle, both devoted fencers and amateur historians, led a systematic study and reconstruction of combat with all the weapons of the Elizabethan arsenal - the elegant rapier, deadly sword and buckler, and the massive two-handed sword. Their work found practical expression in classes, exhibitions, academic lectures and theatrical combat, for audiences as diverse as school children, soldiers and the Prince of Wales.
Yet for all of their efforts, Hutton and Castle did not establish a tradition of historical swordsmanship that survived their own generation. Instead, their books and essays were largely forgotten until the second revival of ancient swordplay in the late 20th century, and today's researchers often view these early efforts with a cavalier or dismissive eye. In Ancient Swordplay: the Revival of Elizabethan Swordplay in Victorian England, 19th-century martial arts scholar, theatrical fight director and martial artist Tony Wolf reexamines Hutton and Castle's work, both through their own words and those of their enthusiasts, students and critics. Rather than earnest but misguided amateur scholars, they are revealed to be the inventors of a systematic study and practice of lost fighting arts that has only been exceeded in recent years, worthy of being celebrated as the true pioneers in the field.
Contents
A Note on the Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Edgerton Castle
Chapter 2: Alfred Hutton
Chapter 3: The Kernoozers Club
Chapter 4: Early Revivals and Grand Assaults-at-Arms
Chapter 5: The First Generation
Chapter 6: Exhibitions of Ancient Swordplay (1888-92)
Chapter 7: Hutton's Cold Steel and Old Sword Play
Chapter 8: Verie Many Weapons: More Exhibitions of Ancient Swordplay (1893-6)
Chapter 9: Sword Fighting and Sword Play (1897-8)
Chapter 10: The Headquarters of Ancient Swordplay: The Bartitsu Club (1899-1902)
Chapter 11: Drawing to a Close (1902-8)
Chapter 12: Last of the Old Swordsmen (1910-20)
Chapter 13: Whither, Ancient Swordplay?
Chapter 14: L'Escrime a Travers les Ages (A Return to Monnaie, 1894)
Chapter 15: The Artistic Archaeology of Vanished Fighting Arts: Georges Dubois and l'Escrime Ancienne
Gallery
Appendix
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading
