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Background
My name is Michael Chidester. I started HEMA in 2001, and since 2010 I've been leading a project called Wiktenauer. Wiktenauer grew out of a desire to set the text of our fencing manuals free from the page and put it into the hands of fencers. In 2019, I started a venture called HEMA Bookshelf with a different objective: to put the page, and the whole book, into your hands as well—specifically, the 1606 rapier treatise of Salvator Fabris, titled De lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme ("On Defense, or the Science of Arms") or Sienza e Pratica d’Arme ("Science and Practice of Arms").
This seminal work was first printed in Copenhagen by Henrico Waltkirch. It was based on Fabris' earlier manuscript treatise (GKS 1868 4040); the text was rewritten in a more flowery style, and the artwork of the manuscript (which was drawn from life) was redrawn in a classical style. It included a title page and portraits engraved by Nicolaus Andrea of Flensburg, heraldry and most illustrations by Christian Ⅳ's court artist Jan van Halbeeck, and additional illustrations by Francesco Valesio.
This book was enormously popular in its own time, especially in Northern Europe, and remains popular as a foundational source for the study of rapier today.
"Facsimile" is a word that's thrown around a lot, and means different things to different people. What I mean when I use it is a careful reproduction of the entire physical book in detail. In other words, it's a book you can pick up and touch without endangering something priceless, but which will at least half-convince you that you're holding the original.
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The Getty Museum's manuscript of Fior di Battaglia alongside the HEMA Bookshelf facsimile
At various times, I have had the privilege of handling several 15th and 16th century fencing manuscripts, as well as copies of most of the printed fencing treatises published before 1600, and I wish everyone in HEMA could have that same chance. It's a way of connecting to history that's hard to describe.
I started producing facsimiles of fencing manuscripts to try to capture at least a small piece of that magic, and give you a sense of what the origin of our fencing reconstruction really is. Each of them contains lessons about fencing, but also about the cultures and ideas that produced them. So far, I've done the Copenhagen Talhoffer manuscript, the Getty's Fiore manuscript, the Munich Lecküchner, the 1570 printed treatise of Joachim Meyer, and the Bauman Fechtbuch.
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Top to bottom: Meyer, Talhoffer, Fiore, and Lecküchner; Bauman is on the left.
What We Need & What You Get
This project will be similar to the Meyer project in several ways. My goal is to not just do a modern reprint of Fabris' treatise, but to create an object that feels like a historical artifact. To get the details right, I've examined four copies of the treatise in person, studied scans of sixteen others, and received descriptions of a dozen more copies from the libraries that own them.
This facsimile will use painted prints from a copy in New York and combine high-resolution scans of several other copies to pull in the hand-written notes of early readers. It will be the same size as the original book (about 8 ½ × 12 ½ in. or 21.5 × 32 cm) and will be printed on cotton rag paper to emulate the feel of early modern books. This facsimile will be our first that's bound in velvet, emulating two original bindings from copies in Copenhagen and Darmstadt.
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Annotations in a copy of Fabris in New York
In parallel with this project, I'll be revising, correcting, and editing the early-20th century translation by A. F. Johnson for publication in several editions (including a side-by-side edition with the Italian transcription). Once the editing is done, I'll also take the new version of the translation and create a prestige edition.
The prestige edition of the translation will be laid out page-by-page the same way that Henrico Waltkirch did in 1606 and then printed and bound using the same materials and methods as the facsimile. It will also include the painted illustrations. The result will be the most gorgeous HEMA translation you'll ever own.
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An original Fabris (top) and the layout of the translation prestige edition (bottom)
Finally, I will be one again publishing a companion volume. I have a number of researchers lined up to contribute papers on various topics related to Fabris. Depending on how long these contributions are, they will either join the translation and transcription in the same book or they will be published as a separate book. This book (or books) will not be sold through this campaign, but will go on sale once it's all ready to print.
The Impact
This project has two objectives. One is obviously to publish new books and to add something beautiful to the world that didn't exist before. That's the reason HEMA Bookshelf exists in the first place.
The other is to continue developing resources for the study of Fabris. This campaign will allow us to pay for high-resolution scans of the annotated and painted copies of Fabris, and once those scans exist, they'll make their way online. The translation by A. F. Johnson is already in the public domain and on Wiktenauer, and some of the corrections to it that I make as I get it ready for print will be reflected there in some way as well. And the research contained in the companion volume will enrich the whole community.
One of two title pages used by different copies, with corrections by an early reader.
Risks & Challenges
The risks of this project are minimal. HEMA Bookshelf has published five facsimiles and seven conventional books at this point and we know the ropes, and unlike the Meyer project (which has ended up far behind schedule), the translation we'll use in this project already exists.
The main risk is the ever-looming threat of covid-related shutdowns and supply line disruptions, which have caused months of delays in past projects. (The paper stock is currently back-ordered until December, for example.)
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't contribute to this project, please spread the word anyway. Share this campaign with your clubs, with your friends, and on social media. Let's see how many Fabris enthusiasts are out there!