The School of Fencing, with a General Explanation of the Principal Attitudes and Positions Peculiar to the Art

by Domenico Angelo

The School of Fencing was first presented in 1763 by Domenico Angelo in French as L'Ecole des armes. It remained the most popular book on fencing for more than fifty years, being translated and republished five times in two decades. Before taking the throne as King George III, a young Edward, Duke of York and his brother, George the Prince of Wales, were both students of Domenico Angelo. His text was so influential that it was chosen to appear under the subject of Fencing in the famous EncyclopTdie edited by Diderot and d'Alembert. Angelo opens the treatise by discussing how to choose an appropriate blade and gives advice on mounting it. He then goes into his system of fencing, starting with drawing the sword then teaching the guards before going into the attacks. He covers the smallsword as well as smallsword and dagger, smallsword vs. smallsword and dagger, smallsword and lantern, and finally smallsword vs. broadsword. He covers how to fence against the German, Italian and Spanish guards. The School of Fencing is essential reading for any historical swordfighter or student of martial arts or military history as it allows the reader to access the knowledge of one of the masters of the art. The book is also sure to give the modern fencer new insights in technique and a greater appreciation of the history of this exciting art.

Genres: Nonfiction, Martial Arts

Hardcover

First published June 15, 2005

Reviews

[Elizabeth Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Domenico Angelo’s School of Fencing, first published in 1763, is a lavishly illustrated book of instructions that went through numerous editions in French and in English. In his foreword to a new edition, Henry Angelo proudly quotes the entry on fencing (“escrime”) in the French Encyclopédie, which cites his father’s treatise as its sole source, saying it was the best there is (p. viii).

Beginners or laypeople may find this difficult to get into; Angelo’s descriptions and the finer points he makes seem to require some experience of fencing and a good three-dimensional imagination. I was reading this for research purposes and thought I might integrate at least the formal salute described on pp. 17–21 into a scene set at Angelo’s Academy of Fencing, but I was quite unable to picture it until watching Philippe de Broca’s classic swashbuckler On Guard (Le Bossu), whose first scenes are set in a fencing school. Mind you, one thing I learned from reading Angelo’s School of Fencing is how inappropriate the wide arm movements are that we all know from cinematic fencing.

Reading Domenico Angelo’s School of Fencing side by side with Roworth’s Art of Self-Defence on Foot produces a strong impression of the fundamental difference between smallsword and broadsword. Angelo writes: “You ought to practise not only to make your thrusts with great quickness and vivacity, but also to deliver them with an elastic disengagement and disposition; and the motion of the body should appear like diverse springs throughout the whole frame” (School, p. 22). Next to strength and firmness, his emphasis is on elegance, agility, ease, grace, and address, none of which Roworth even mentions.

Domenico Angelo (1716–1802) was an Italian from Livorno who had trained in Paris and moved to London in the 1750s. In 1780, he handed the school on to his son, who moved it to new premises on 13 Bond Street. Henry Angelo (1756–1835) retired from teaching in 1817, when his son Henry Charles Angelo (1780–1852), also known as Henry Angelo the Younger, took over running the academy. This is the “Angelo dynasty” referred to by modern masters like Nick Evangelista.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent text for the smallsword student. Since it was originally written in English, there are no details lost in translation. Worth getting forbthe student of swordplay.

[Charley Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic historic treatise, with some much-appreciated notes, addendum and appendices for novice fencers who, like me, spend more time trying to remember they have feet (which the enemy may stamp on) than perfecting their stances.

[Michael Vallery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome crafts make, excellent repose, vised verses recumbent to a time past, yet forgotten; how amazing a time period requisite of all to the mastery of the sword for life, liberty, and the pursuits of happiness.

[Edward Mooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for the coffee table, a good resource on small sword

[keereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

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