Home Page

Stefan's Florilegium

archery-books-msg



This document is also available in: text or RTF formats.

archery-books-msg - 3/22/17

 

Books on period archery. Book reviews.

 

NOTE: See also the files: p-archery-msg, arch-supplies-msg, archery-msg, crossbows-msg, arch-books-FAQ.

 

************************************************************************

NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

************************************************************************

 

Date: 26 May 92

From: aryk at gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (a.j.s. nusbacher)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Organization:  University of Toronto * Universitas Torontoniensis

 

For good, readable, very current scholarship on the subject, I refer you

to:

 

Bradbury, Jim.  _The Medieval Archer_.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985.

198pp.

 

Bradbury shoots a lot of arrows into the myth of the long bow as a Welsh

invention, making it quite clear that it was English in origin.  He also gives

dimensions for some arrows which put them close in dimensions to golf-tube

arrows (not _really_ close:  86cm long, 2.54cm thick)

 

And:

 

Davis, R.H.C.  _The Medieval Warhorse_.  New York:  Thames and Hudson, 1989.

144pp.

 

Davis addresses horse breeding and breeds in England, as well as horse prices,

in addition to discussing their deployment in battle and in the tournament

and tilts.

 

Neither of these books is especially thick or especially dense.

_____________________________________________________________

Aryk Nusbacher                .. .. Celebrating the 20th Anniversary    

                                    

          Hart House                 Informal Education in the University

    aryk at gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca        

            VE3UOT                  

 

 

From: dgeiken at uiuc.edu (Deane Geiken)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Cool new Archery Book

Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 01:49:07 GMT

Organization: WILL AM/FM/TV, PBS, University of Illinois

 

Osprey has done it again.  It has just released English Longbowman.  It is #

11 of the Warrior Series.   ISBN1855324911.  Get it!.  It has everything

from underwear to shoes to points to ......everything.  It focuses a little

too much on the 15th century for my taste, but gives some wonderfull insight

in many aspects that are overlooked by the so called "period" archers of the

SCA.  Man, I got a lot of work ahead of me now, thanks to this book.  For

more info, E-mail directly at dgeiken at uiuc.edu.

 

See ya.

Deane

 

Deane Geiken                                   Phone:    (217) 333-0850

Master Control Operator                         FAX:      (217) 333-7151

WILL AM/FM Radio                               Internet: dgeiken at uiuc.edu

University of Illinois

 

 

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 09:58:54 -0700

From: Nancy Lynch <lughbec at info2000.net>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Archer book

 

SNSpies at aol.com wrote:

> Does anyone have full citation information for a book called "The Traditional

> Archer" (or something equivalent)? Thank you.

> Ingvild

...............

Well, no, not that title, but the following is our personal library of

"something equivalent"...:)

        Lughbec

 

"Arrows Against Steel"  history of the bow, by Vic Hurley, Mason and

Charter, New York, 1975     0-88405-094-7

 

"Longbow, a social and military history", by Robert Hardy, Bois d'Arc

Press, 1993     1-85260-412-3

 

"The Grey Goose Wing, Legends of the Longbow" by E.G. Heath, Derrydale

Press, Lyon, Mississippi, 1994 (Copyright 1971 - Osprey Publishing, Ltd)

 

"The Traditional Bowyers Bible" Steve Allely..., Bois d'Arc Press, 1992

 

"The Medieval Archer"  Jim Bradbury, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk,

UK, 1994     0-85115-194-9

 

 

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 11:13:26 -0600

From: Wendy Robertson <timwendy at avalon.net>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Archer book

 

Author:         Greenland, Hilary.

Title:          The traditional archer's handbook / by Hilary Greenland.

Edition:        Rev. ed.

Published:      Bristol : Sylvan Archery, 1994.

Description:    84 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

Subjects:       Archery--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

                Longbows--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Notes:          Previous ed.: 1993.

ISBN:           0952462702 (pbk) : No price

 

Ailene

 

 

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:17:14 -0500

From: Carol Thomas <scbooks at neca.com>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Archer book

 

>"Longbow, a social and military history", by Robert Hardy, Bois d'Arc

>Press, 1993     1-85260-412-3

 

This book is now in paperback ISBN 0-9645741-3-6.

 

Apparently the hard-cover is out of print.

 

Lady Carllein

Small Churl Books catalog: http://www.neca.com/~scbooks/

 

 

Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 01:28:43 -0500

From: mmagnusol <MMagnusOL at nc.rr.com>

Subject: [SCA-AS] New Archery Books by Hugh Soar,  Hon. Sec. Society of

        Archer-Antiquaries

To: - Medieval Leather List <medieval-leather at yahoogroups.com>,    "-

        MedievalEncampments at yahoogroups.com"

        <MedievalEncampments at yahoogroups.com>,   - Metallum_Lochac

        <Metallum_Lochac at yahoogroups.com.au>,     - SCA-ARTS

        <artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>,      - StellarArts

        <StellarArts at yahoogroups.com>

 

Please note the special relevance of the first book to what we do.

It is based on the Mary Rose surviving examples.

The chapter in the Hardy Longbow book was good, but this is much better.

 

Soar, Hugh D. H.; Joseph Gibbs, Christopher Jury, Mark Stretton:

Secrets of the English War Bow; Westholme Publishing Llc, 2006;

Hardcover - Sewn binding. Paper over boards.        With dust jacket.

245 p. with Illustrations. ISBN 1594160252  $26.60

 

        "Dominating medieval battlefields for more than two

centuries but requiring long and arduous practice to command,

the English war bow and its battle shaft are the symbols of the rise

of British power in Europe.

 

     Despite being crafted for hundreds of years and wielded by

generations of archers, the sole surviving examples of this fearsome

weapon—the military version of the longbow—are those recovered

from the Tudor warship Mary Rose. Now for the first time, expert

craftsmen use all available evidence including applied archaeology

to unlock the secrets of the English war bow.

 

     Historian Hugh D. H. Soar is joined by Mark Stretton, arrowsmith,

and Joseph Gibbs, bowyer, in order to demonstrate how a war bow and

its associated arrow heads and   shafts may have been constructed and

used. In addition to showing the complete manufacture of a bow from

tree selection to stringing and how specialized arrowheads were forged

and attached to shafts, Secrets of the English War Bow provides

information on the actual performance of the war bow, including the

bow’s effectiveness against various materials and, for the first time,

its use against moving targets, since bows were often drawn against

mounted soldiers. Armed with this new information, Soar provides

an analysis of both successes and failures of the war bow in several

important battles.

 

     Illustrated in color and black and white,

Secrets of the English War Bow provides an invaluable service for those

interested in medieval military history, archery, and technology.

   About the Author:

   Hugh D. H. Soar has written extensively about the longbow, including

the best-selling The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow, also

available from Westholme Publishing.

 

Mark Stretton, master blacksmith, holds the world’s record for heaviest      longbow shot. Joseph Gibbs is a talented bowyer who specializes in creating the replica war bow.

  Written in English   Amazon $26.60 - eligible for free shipping.

'

Soar, Hugh H. D.:  The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow

(Weapons in History);     Publisher: Westholme Publishing [United States],

Hardcover, ISBN: 1594160023,  Amazon $17.47

October 2004.

 

He also has another book that is new but I could

only find it in England

on Amazon.co.uk and the shipping is more expensive:

 

Soar, Hugh D. H.: Of Bowmen and Battles;

Publisher: The Glade, 2003;

Paperback: 230 pages,    ISBN 0951764519.  New.

Amazon.co.uk       

        £13.98 + Postage & Packing: £6.98 = Total: £20.96

 

Anyone wishing to join the Society of

Archer-Antiquaries outside the

U.K. I can put in touch with Hugh.  It is possible to cheaply transfer membership funds through PayPal if you have that. They would

like more international members.  It costs £20 per year and there is an

annual journal and several smaller newsletter publications that also includes

archery news and small articles.

 

Master Magnus

Great Barony of Windmasters' Hill, Adria, the

Manx, GDH, Soc. of Archer-Antiquaires

 

 

Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 10:17:04 +1000

From: Raymond Wickham <insidious565 at hotmail.com>

Subject: [Lochac] academic book on the englisg war bow fyi

To: <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

 

Soar, Hugh David Hewitt with Joseph Gibbs, Christopher Jury and Mark

Stretton. "Secrets of the English War Bow". Yardley: Westholme

Publishing, September 2010. Pp. x, 245. $ 19.95. ISBN: 978-1-59416-126-

1.

 

This 245-page book, with black and white figures and a eight-page

color section, is the latest book published by historian Hugh D. H.

Soar, coming after three books among which is the noticeable

"Croocked Stick: a History of the Longbow". The latter aimed

to study the different uses of the bow--in addition to its use

during wartime--in the context of hunting and entertainment from

its origins in the Neolithic period.

 

Hugh Soar is frequently presented as a user of archery, a

traditional archery expert in all its aspects (history,

manufacturing techniques and use). He is a member of the Royal

Society Toxophilite and the General Secretary of the British

Longbow Society. He regularly contributes to the publication of

articles in the "Journal of the Society of Archer-

Antiquaries". For this work, he benefited from the expertise of

three other people. Joseph Gibbs, a bowyer who specialized in

manufacturing replica war bows, and Christopher Jury, a master

fletcher, have helped to mainly provide the photographs

illustrating the book. Mark Stretton, a master blacksmith and an

outstanding archer has meanwhile written two chapters about

manufacture of arrows, their design, their performance and their

ability to penetrate in different situations and against different

targets.

 

 

From the FB "Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)" group:

 

From the fb "Quivers & Quarrels - dedicated to the archers of the SCA" group:

 

Conrad Engelhart

August 5 at 4:36am · Coal Mountain, GA

 

I came across a website with old archery books, articles and prints online. The books date from 1515 until 1947. Mostly European, but there are a few on Native American and Arab archery.

 

The Archery Library: Free online versions of old Archery Books, Articles and Prints

The Archery library is a free online library containing digital versions of old archery books, prints and…

ARCHERYLIBRARY.COM|BY MARCELO MULLER

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org