https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TkI0Vi_4ldH8wBVjhYcSD4uaKPev1HCd?usp=sharing
UPDATE: High resolution scans of this treatise are now also available here via the Corble collection.
Unfortunately I have yet to find any information on Ferrero aside from what he says about himself in his introduction:
"Being disposed towards fencing as a child, I applied myself to it with a zeal and attachment that I myself never could explain; I did my first exercises under talented maestri, like Galletti, Torriani, Speirani Snr, Merlino, and Raffin, and I was breveted from 1858, and as much as was possible I immediately gave myself to the teaching of this art."
Ferrero's stated purpose for this treatise is succinctness and comprehensibility, as opposed to the large, verbose treatises that were common up until then. Despite the treatise being only 30 pages long, it has 19 beautiful illustrations.
 |
| Fig. XIX. Rising blow to the external arm |
Ferrero gives two guard positions: the "common or Italian guard", which is a semi-extended guard of 3rd, and the "high or French guard", which is a high hanging guard.
 |
| Left: Fig. IV. High or French Guard Right: Fig. V. Common or Italian Guard |
This treatise is also somewhat special in that it includes blows to the leg, which is quite rare for Italian sabre treatises from this time.
Special thanks to Biblioteca civica centrale di Torino for providing the photos.
Special thanks to Biblioteca civica centrale di Torino for providing the photos.
Hello Mr. Seager,
ReplyDeleteI came across one of your posts concerning 'Ví-tan' by János Domján (1839), about how, "...two guards described and illustrated in it seem to correspond almost exactly to Radaelli's guards of 3rd and 2nd".
Your post goes on to say, "By the time Giuseppe Cerri published his sabre treatise (1861), he names that first guard (Radaelli's guard of 3rd) the "Italian Guard", and other contemporary sources also describe it as either the "common" or Italian guard. The other guard Domján shows (what Radaelli would call guard of 2nd) starts to become fairly popular in Northern Italy after the first treatise on Radaelli's system was published in 1868".
Did you ever find out if Domján addresses any influences in his method?
Regards.
As far as I can tell, Domján does not mention where his sabre method comes from. His foil is very clearly based on French practice of the time, but that's the most I can say about his book with any certainty.
DeleteMany thanks Mr. Seager. Perhaps he had a similar method to József Keresztessy, who combined French wrist and Italian forearm centric methods.
ReplyDeleteIt is my understanding that Keresztessy was at the height of his career before Italian sabre became well-known outside of Italy, so any resemblance between his teachings and those of the Radaellians are likely just coincidental.
DeleteHello again Mr. Seager. So far, what I've managed to determine is that Domján was active in Torontál County. According to a rough translation of Emil Barta's blog: Taking into account the location of Torontál County and the fact that after 1820 Gaetano Biassini, an Italian, taught in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), the first foreign fencing master in Hungary, of whom we already have relatively accurate information, it is not inconceivable that Domján learned fencing from Biassini and described or taught a particular sword fencing style, possibly influenced by French smallsword fencing (as indicated by the first place of the épée in the list) in his book. Exactly as Chappon did.
ReplyDelete