Guy Windsor

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Exciting times, for booky sword geeks anyway.

February 8, 2017 By Guy Windsor 6 Comments

About a month ago I was checking through a pdf of Vadi's De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, and thinking how lovely it would be to just pluck the manuscript off a shelf and curl up in an armchair with it. So I looked into getting a copy printed and bound locally. It was going to cost about £40. “Huh, that seems expensive” I thought to myself. “I wonder how much it would cost to get it printed by the company that does my print on demand publishing?” Then I thought- “you know what, I can't be the only person who wants one.” A quick email to my list triggered a deluge of “yes! do it! do it now! I want one!” responses, so I looked into the costs of getting it laid out and a cover designed.

Then it hit me that I really better do Il Fior di Battaglia first. That's a way more popular manuscript, and sales of it could very well subsidize producing Vadi… four weeks later, my facsimile of Fiore dei Liberi’s magisterial Il Fior di Battaglia is #1 in fencing on Amazon (where he assuredly belongs!) as well as #1 in “hot new releases” in martial arts!

The notion of a 600 year old book being a “hot new release” is gloriously ironic, but there you have it. The only modern text in the book is a note in the back saying where the manuscript is, and some details about it. I wanted to keep myself out of these books as far as possible; I mention my Mastering the Art of Arms books, of course, but also Bob Charrette's Armizare, Tom Leoni's translation of the text, and some other resources, on the grounds that most readers of the book will be interested. But this is Fiore's book, not mine. It is his manuscript, laid out, but not edited, translated or commented on. It's just its own pure gorgeous self.

 

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And now Vadi is laid out, uploaded to the printers, and I'm eagerly awaiting the proof copy.

The ease and sheer pleasure of producing these facsimiles has lead me to create a new imprint, Spada Press, which even has its own (very basic, don’t go there! ok, you can if you want, but I warned you) website up at www.spada.press  I expect I’ll shift all my book publishing over to that imprint, to help keep the various aspects of my work separate. Expect facsimiles of Meyer (the 1560 ms), at least one other Fiore ms, Marozzo, Fabris, and hopefully Capoferro, in the near future. I welcome requests!

On the subject of books: I have been delighted by the way my beta-readers have been responding to the first draft of The Theory and Practice of Historical European Martial Arts, which I released a 100 copies of recently. While they like the book, they have also made some really useful suggestions for improvement. I hope to get the book finished within the next four months or so. Also, the second edition of Veni Vadi Vici went to the editor at the end of last week— I have completely rewritten the book, reorganised it, and added a ton of material to the introduction. It’s probably 8 months or so from being published, but this was a major milestone in its production, and it is a much, much better book. Veni Vadi Vici was my first self-published book, and it really shows. The second edition has benefitted greatly from the constructive criticism of many readers, and the expert help of friends and colleagues. I hope it does them justice. I will be sending out ebook copies of the finished book to everyone who backed the crowdfunding campaign, and to everyone I can reach who has bought the well-meaning but flawed Veni Vadi Vici since it launched.

I would say that was a cracking start to 2017, wouldn't you?

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Filed Under: Books and Writing, Projects Tagged With: books, fiore, Meyer, publishing, Spada Press, vadi, writing

Comments

  1. StianS says

    February 11, 2017 at 01:14

    New book coming? I salivate in anticipation.

    Reply
    • Guy Windsor says

      February 14, 2017 at 13:58

      Thanks! I hope you like it when it’s ready.

      Reply
  2. Jonathan says

    February 14, 2017 at 07:51

    This IS exciting! Thank you, Guy!

    Reply
    • Guy Windsor says

      February 14, 2017 at 13:58

      You’re welcome! Glad you’re pleased.

      Reply
  3. Tracy Mellow says

    February 16, 2017 at 17:12

    I thank you for these books! I have working copies, but having hard back copies for showing people at demos and when discussing the European Martial arts is a valuable tool to have.

    This article states that you are intending to have at least one other Fiore ms. Done up. I would request to have all 4 hard bound, like a collection.

    Can’t wait for Vadi!!!! I have been studying Vadim in depth recently and would absolutely love a hard back copy. All I have are digital copies on my tablet.

    Reply
    • Guy Windsor says

      February 17, 2017 at 15:18

      Delighted you’re pleased!
      Vadi is done, I’m holding the proof copy right now 🙂 Expect an announcement early next week!

      Reply

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