armor-books-msg - 4/29/02
Books about medieval armor. Reviews.
NOTE: See also the files: armor-msg, p-armor-msg, chainmail-msg, helmets-msg, shields-msg, swords-msg, Swords-bib, weapons-msg, coat-of-plates-msg.
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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.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: caradoc at enet.net (John Groseclose)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Armor Question on Period
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 1995 00:47:49 -0700
mjohnso7 at osf1.gmu.EDU (Michael P Johnson) wrote:
>To have all o your basic armor questions answered, check your local
>library or bookstore for a book entitled The Armourer and His Craft, by
>Ffoulke. It gives a good over view of armor history, and production
>techniques. It was the first book that my teacher had me read and I
>still use it as a reference, because I'm still learning. To answer your
>question, yes, plate and mail were worn together, from the beginning of
>the fourteenth century onward through the fifteenth century. Visored
>helms also started appearing in the fourteenth century with the adent of
>the bascnet with the hound skull face plate. This progressed into
>several different types of visored helms. The sallet and armet became
>popular during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, but
>mainly in the fifteenth. The armet progressed into the close helm.
>Well, I could go on and on about armor. If you have any other questions,
>let me know, and I'll answer them as best as I can.
Be aware of the errors that ffoulkes makes. He makes several
"observations" about banded "mail" and ring "mail" that I can find
documented nowhere but in his book. Page 47 shows several drawings of
armor "constructions" that, to the best of my research, do not exist, did
not exist, and aren't really workable.
--
John Groseclose <caradoc at enet.net>
Subject: New Armor Book / Viking Book
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 15:02:22 -0400
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
Organization: Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia, and the GDH
To: Merryrose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Barnes and Noble has put out a translation of a new armor book by
a pair of Slovakians. In short this means it isn't just about
Western style armor. There are lots of other cultures as well.
It's also quite cheap for a hardback. No bibliography, no index though.
Armor from Ancient to Modern Times, by Petr Klucina, illustrated
by Pavol Pevny. Barnes and Noble, 1997. Printed in Slovakia by
Neoagrafia, a.s. Martin. ISBN 0-7607-0475-9, 133 pp. $15.00
Okay, what's in it? Very early period to 20th C., probably at least
150 hand drawn, handpainted pictures which are very clear. Covers
Western armor, Eastern armor including the Middle East, China, and
Japan. Polish, Hungarian, Persian, Iranian, Lithuanian, Rome, Scythian,
Celtic, Sumerian, Milanese, Norman, Russian, Turkish, Indian,
Circassian, Samurai, Chinese, - Many scale and laminated styles, some
shields, jousting armor, and equestrian armor.
Basically, you get a lot of styles you don't usually see in most
western armor books. Scholarly?, not particularly. Well illustrated?,
very much so.
And you get a large book covering a lot of unusual material for about
the same price as a single Osprey book.
If you don't have a store near you. 1-800-The-Book.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
..........................................................
Secondly, they are also selling Bertil Almgren's big book The Viking.
This is the one that has all the line drawings of damn near everything
the Vikings had or did (the one with the particularly unflattering
personal portraits). It has been on sale for some time for $20.
This is a reprint, a hardback and is quite good. If I were looking
for some artifacts like tools or furniture to reproduce, here is a
good start.
Magnus, not affiliated.
Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 21:07:32 -0500
From: Matthew House <mhouse at exploremaine.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Book review...
I just picked up a copy of "European Arms & Armor", by Charles Henry
Ashdown. I was wondering if anyone could comment on its value as a
reference?
From: jhrisoulas at aol.com (Dr JP Hrisoulas)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Book review...
Date: 08 Nov 1999 02:40:42 GMT
Ashdown?? On my Lord, his work is what i wouild refer to as a "standard
reference" book.....
Atar
Dr JP Hrisoulas
Bladesmith Metallographer Lecturer
Author: The Complete Bladesmith
The Master Bladesmith
The Pattern Welded Blade
http:www.Atar.com
From: "Janet Davis" <castle at erie.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: book suggestions?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 02:06:19 -0500
As a SCA bookseller who gets feedback from her customers, my top picks would
be:
"Medieval Swordsmanship" - This is like having a grumpy old peer
on hand - the author is opinionated and you won't always agree with his
opinions, but he knows a lot. This is practical stuff for the heavy weapons
fighter - stances, shield positions, wraps, etc. well illustrated with
diagrams.
"Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction" - This is just out
and it is very impressive. It is expensive but there are hundreds of
pictures detailing armouring techniques and scholarship as well.
"Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe" is also new and really
good, but it is most suitable for a late period type or a fencer.
"The Armouer and His Craft" was written in 1912 but is
considered a basic classic that every armourer should have and is
inexpensive.
"Arms and Armour" (by Frederick Wilkinson) covers a huge time
span (3000 years) and includes guns, but it has lots of pictures and is
cheap.
My web site is just hatching, but I do have longer reviews on a couple of
these there - www.medievalbookstore.com
Leah Janette
From: moondrgn at bga.com (Chris and Elisabeth Zakes)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: book suggestions?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 19:00:10 GMT
On Wed, 15 Nov 2000 10:43:12 GMT, an orbiting mind-control laser
caused "Amy Bernard" <amynjohn at worldnet.att.net> to write:
>Greetings fellow lords and ladies,
>With the holidays coming, I'm looking for a book detailing combat
>methods/armor design, etc. for my lord. There's a few interesting choices
>at Amazon, but I'd like to hear from someone already having them in their
>library. I'm afraid some of the reviews at Amazon appear to have been
>written by a 12 year old! I'd hate to spend $30-50 on something that may be
>poorly written or historically inaccurate.
I'm not certain this is what you're looking for, but...
"Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight" by David Edge and John Miles
Paddock has *lots* of great pictures and interesting text. It even
includes a chapter on armor-making, with photos of the insides of
various pieces showing how they were built.
ISBN 0-517-64468-1
-Tivar Moondragon
Ansteorra
From: clevin at ripco.com (Craig Levin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: book suggestions?
Date: 17 Nov 2000 19:19:00 GMT
Organization: Ripco Internet, Chicago
Amy Bernard <amynjohn at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>With the holidays coming, I'm looking for a book detailing combat
>methods/armor design, etc. for my lord. There's a few interesting choices
>at Amazon, but I'd like to hear from someone already having them in their
>library. I'm afraid some of the reviews at Amazon appear to have been
>written by a 12 year old! I'd hate to spend $30-50 on something that may be
>poorly written or historically inaccurate.
I'd like to warn you away from John Hewitt's _Ancient Armour and
Weapons_, pub. by Bracken Press. It's a reprint of _Ancient Armour
and Weapons in Europe_, originally pub. by John Henry and James
Parker in 1855. The scholars of six generations ago are as out of
date in their knowledge of arms and armor as they are in
astrophysics. We're looking at such pseudohistorical fancies as
banded mail, for instance. If your husband doesn't have a good
grounding in the subject already, he could be misled by Hewitt.
In its defence, it does have some very, very interesting
reproductions of the original illustrations. As a pursuivant, I
found the seals and banners to be very useful in my field. He
often includes quotes from period sources, often in the original
Old French or Latin, which let you make your own translation-which
often lets you get a better idea of the original author's intent.
Pedro
--
http://pages.ripco.net/~clevin/index.html
clevin at rci.ripco.com
Craig Levin
From: Wajdi <wajdi at home.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: book suggestions?
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 04:40:43 GMT
I'd like to recommend TECHNIQUES OF MEDIEVAL ARMOUR REPRODUCTION,
a book by Brian Price. It's been reviewed at:
http://hppublish.com/itm00573.htm
http://store.yahoo.com/spytechagency/12975.html
wajdi
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