L’ANGE, Jean-Daniel. Deutliche und gründliche Erklärung der Adelichen und Ritterlichen frenen Fecht-Kunst…
Düsseldorf, Getruckt bey der Wittib Bayers, 1708.
£ 4,000
SECOND EDITION. Oblong 4to. A-S4 (lacking last blank leaf). Gothic letter and sporadic Italic. Head-piece and floriated initials. 61 engravings of fencing scenes and an initial full-page portrait of the author Jean-Daniel. Early inscriptions on front pastedown. Rebound in brown morocco keeping about 85% of the old binding and pastedowns. Some light soiling, browning and damp staining to margins. Occasional thumb marks. An excellent and fresh copy. Very rare.
The title translates as “A Clear and Thorough Explanation of the Noble, Chivalric, and Free Art of Fencing”. First published in 1664, this German fencing manual was written by Jean-Daniel L’Ange of Darmstadt. It treats the use of the single rapier and seems to fall into the tradition of the famous Italian fencing master Salvator Fabris.
According to WorldCat, there are a few copies in German public collections and only one in Britain at the BL.