Featuring period drawings and prints of swordplay; this book examines and compares three Elizabethan fencing manuals written in English before 1600: Giacomo Di Grassirsquo;s His True Arte of Defense (1594); Vincentio Saviolorsquo;s His Practice in Two Bookes (1595); and George Silverrsquo;s Paradoxes of Defence and Bref Instructions upon My Paradoxes of Defence (1599).More than a technical manual on swordplay; this book explores the influence of a new form of violence introduced into Elizabethan culture by the invention of the rapier. The authors examine the rapierrsquo;s influence on the various social classes; the clash between the traditional English fencing masters and those embracing the new style; the growing concern with unregulated dueling; and the frequent references to rapier play in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.As producer Joseph Papp notes in his foreword; this is a book that "makes a difference in performance."
2013-11-29 2013-11-29File Name: B01D54E7TM
Review
