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Rector (ed.)
Hardcover, 2000, 304 pages,
US $23.96
that are as well documented as they remain inaccessible to full comprehension, his art (and
showmanship?) belongs to the few medieval systems that have survived not in one but a few
manuscripts.
The 1467 Codex, of what became known as Talhoffer's Fechtbuch, was first revived for reproduction
and re-publication by the Viennese fencing master Gustav Hergsell.
Hergsell's transcription and interpretation of the instructions may not have remained without vocal
critics. (The 19th-century fencing historian Dr. Karl Wassmannsdorff found so much wrong with him
that he devoted an entire book to Hergsell's philological misdeeds.) But his leather-bound 1887
editions (both self-published and, later that year, by Calve) still command prices of between $500 and
$900 that are eagerly paid by collectors.
Mark Rector has exercised restraint and competence in his endeavor of making Talhoffer accessible to
the Anglophile market. He places the manuscript into its appropriate cultural and combative context
that has as much to offer to the history buff as it has to the combative practitioner. Its only drawback:
Wassmannsdorff's valid objections have not been acknowledged or taken into consideration for the
transcription.
Still, Rector's work should find a well deserved place in the canon of combative arts source literature.
The quality of the production is solid and well worth the price. This book has earned an unconditional
seal of approval! Go buy it now.
Fencers Quarterly Magazine, 848 South Kimbrough, Springfield, MO 65806
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