Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay (Hardcover)

Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay Book Description

This book explores the influence of a new form of violence introduced into Elizabeth culture by invention of the rapier. The authors examine the rapier's influence on traditional English fencing masters and those embracing the new style.
Featuring period drawings and prints of swordplay, this book examines and compares the only three existing Elizabethan fencing manuals written in English before 1600: Giacomo Di Grassi's "His True Arte of Defense "(1594), Vincentio Saviolo's "His Practice in Two Bookes "(1595), and George Silver'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 rapier'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."

About the Author :

Tony Soper has contributed to Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay as an author. Tony Soper has written numerous books on birds and other natural history topics.
Dan Powell is an artist best known for his studies of birds.


Joseph Papp has contributed to Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay as a designer. Papp, one of the most important forces in theater today, is the founder and producer of the new York Shakespeare Festival.

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