Salvator Fabris was one of the most influential fencing masters of all time. He ran a successful school in Padua and then went on to serve as fencing master to dukes and kings, and his career culminated in writing a sophisticated and lavishly-illustrated treatise on rapier fencing. Throughout the 17th century and well into the 18th, his teachings were spread across Europe both by his students and by fencers who had studied his book.
This book will aid in the study of Fabris’s works, variously titled On Fencing or the Science of Arms and The Science and Practice of Arms. In it, the 195 elaborate engravings produced by Jan van Haelbeck, Francesco Valeggio, Nicolaus Andreas, and I. de Bost. for his 1606 book are beautifully restored and crystal clear, and they are placed alongside 183 painted illustrations from his 1601 manuscript. Also included is an introduction by Michael Chidester describing Fabris’s works and the process by which they were created.
It includes all 195 cleaned-up engravings created for the Fabris Prestige Edition, paired with the 181 miniatures from the 1601 København manuscript. The 35 miniatures from the Den Haag manuscript are included in an appendix, and an introduction by Michael Chidester discusses Fabris's manuscripts and book.