Charles Besnard's 1653 text marks both the start of the era of the smallsword and beginnings of the French school of fencing. The book clearly outlines the stances, strikes and parries taught during the transitional period between fencing with the rapier and the development of the lighter court sword carried by the nobility and upper classes as a mark of their status in society. The student of fencing history and the HEMA practitioner will find in this book much that is useful for understa...

This file includes: Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), The Man Who Laughs, Les Miserables, The History of a Crime, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo, and Poems. According to Wikipedia: "Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his d...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Nostradamus (1503-1566) is famous for his prophetic writings, known as quatrains, which have been the subject of much speculation and interpretation over the centuries. Many believe that Nostradamus accurately predicted various historical events, and his prophecies continue to captivate the curiosity of people interested in mysticism, astrology, and the occult.In "The Oracles of Nostradamus," Charles A. Ward presents a collection of Nostradamus' quatrains and provides commentary and analys...

Excerpt: "The time when the intellectual affairs of America could be conducted on a monolingual basis is over. It has been irksome for long. The intellectual life of London is dependent on people who understand the French language about as well as their own. America's part in contemporary culture is based chiefly upon two men familiar with Paris: Whistler and Henry James. It is something in the nature of a national disgrace that a New Zealand paper, "The Triad," should be more alert to, an...

Should a person who has never bestowed a thought on the subject ask, "What can there be that is interesting in the History of Cards?" it is answered, "There may be much." There is an interest, of a certain kind, even in the solution of a riddle, or the explication of a conundrum; and certain learned men, such as Père Daniel, and Court de Gebelin, having assumed that the game of Cards was originally instructive, and that the figures and marks of the suits are emblematic, speaking to the int...

Domenico Angelo's book, complete with diagrams, embodies the ideas of an era. Philip Stafford in The Times Literary Supplement This is a fascinating read and surprisingly up to date. Every fencer will learn from it . . . Very highly recommended. The Sword. If there is one book on smallsword technique that a person should have in their collection, Angelos treatise is certainly that book. JL Forgeng in Man At Arms magazine. Domenico Angelos The School of Fencing was first published in 1763 a...

'To the English, I am "shocking"...What's more, French, which is disgusting; republican, which is abominable; exiled, which is repulsive; defeated, which is infamous. To top it all off, a poet...' Victor Hugo dominated literary life in France for over half a century, pouring forth novels, poems, plays, and other writings with unflagging zest and vitality. Here, for the first time in English, all aspects of his work are represented within a single volume. Famous scenes from...

Narration is conducted on behalf of the eldest of six brothers - a prisoner of the Chillon Castle, a terrible prison with intolerable conditions of detention. Five of his close relatives have already died. Two of them could not stand the conclusion in the cellars of the castle. The prisoner lost count of days and years, and when he was released, he became so accustomed to imprisonment that the outbreak did not cause him any emotion. Pretty illustrations by Elena Odarich provide you with ne...

In "The Art of Fencing; Or, The Use of the Small Sword," Maître d'armes Labat intricately dissects the nuanced techniques of small sword fencing, providing readers with a comprehensive guide steeped in the traditions of 18th-century martial arts. The book not only elucidates specific stances and movements but also contextualizes the art of fencing within the broader cultural practices of dueling and honor in France. Labat employs a didactic and systematic literary style, making complex tec...

Fencing, now a modern sport increasingly practised throughout the world, is an art of the greatest antiquity with centuries of tradition behind it. Swordsmanship has been studied from the dawn of history but so long as man continued to go to war encased in armour, weapons remained heavy and clumsy and there was little skill in their use. In the early fifteenth century, however, the invention of gunpowder led to the disuse of armour and a sudden transformation of weapons to forms better ada...

French billionaire Orgon, relocated to Los Angeles with his family, has fallen under the spell of Tartuffe, a radical American evangelist. So comprehensively is he hoodwinked that Tartuffe looks set to steal his fortune, drive away his son, seduce his wife and marry his daughter.Molière's classic comedy, adapted by Christopher Hampton and directed by the former dramaturg of the French People's National Theatre, Gérald Garutti, premiered in May 2018, the West End's first dual langua...