Description
This second edition of this classic reference--covers the fitting of of the Samurai swords-which are an art form onto them selves. The detailing and stores just as great as this out of print book-which is starting to become rare like they are.
Library's review
from dust jacket
Although ever since the end of the last century collectors of Japanese swords and their fittings have been steadily on the increase in this country and America, no convenient comprehensive manual had been available until Mr. Robinson produced The Arts of the Japanese Sword. The
The addition of four new colour plates and eight black and white in the new edition together with the replacement of a number of the existing plates with new ones, has added still further to its value.
'...any English reader who masters this book will learn as many facts about the Japanese sword as he is ever likely to want to know...[it] contains detailed information about the making of blades, and also about guards and other sword furniture; there is a highly technical chapter on how to judge a blade, another on the chief schools of Japanese swordsmiths, and lists of swordsmiths with their names in Japanese characters, and the schools to which they belonged, along with a thousand other items of information about, for instance, care and cleaning, evolution of styles, year periods, nomenclature of parts and places of manufacture. For the specialist and collector the book will be found indispensable.'-Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
Contents
Preface
List of Illustations
Part One: The Blade
Introductory
Evolution and History of the Japanese Sword
The Smith and his Work: the Making of a Blade
Nomenclature and Expertise: Judging a Blade
The Five Tradition
The Chief Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths
The Greatest Swordsmiths of Japan
Part Two: The Mounts
Evolution of styles
Materials and Technque
Mounting of Katana and Wakizashi
Mounting of Tachi
Mounting of Daggers
The Chief Schools of Japanese Sword-furniture Makers
The Greatest Makers of Sword-furniture
Appendices
A. The Year-periods (Nengo)
B. The Numerals, the 'Ten Stems', and the 'Twelve Signs'
C. The Provinces
D. Care and Cleaning
E. Characters used n the names of swordsminths and makers of sword-fittings
Index
Although ever since the end of the last century collectors of Japanese swords and their fittings have been steadily on the increase in this country and America, no convenient comprehensive manual had been available until Mr. Robinson produced The Arts of the Japanese Sword. The
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subject is a vast one, not least because the Japanese literature on it is so extensive, reaching back into the Middle Ages. When it appeared (in 1961), it was hailed as 'a masterpiece of selective condensation...a first-class study of the Japanese sword and an absolute must to the library of all students and collectors in this field' (Apollo)The addition of four new colour plates and eight black and white in the new edition together with the replacement of a number of the existing plates with new ones, has added still further to its value.
'...any English reader who masters this book will learn as many facts about the Japanese sword as he is ever likely to want to know...[it] contains detailed information about the making of blades, and also about guards and other sword furniture; there is a highly technical chapter on how to judge a blade, another on the chief schools of Japanese swordsmiths, and lists of swordsmiths with their names in Japanese characters, and the schools to which they belonged, along with a thousand other items of information about, for instance, care and cleaning, evolution of styles, year periods, nomenclature of parts and places of manufacture. For the specialist and collector the book will be found indispensable.'-Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
Contents
Preface
List of Illustations
Part One: The Blade
Introductory
Evolution and History of the Japanese Sword
The Smith and his Work: the Making of a Blade
Nomenclature and Expertise: Judging a Blade
The Five Tradition
The Chief Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths
The Greatest Swordsmiths of Japan
Part Two: The Mounts
Evolution of styles
Materials and Technque
Mounting of Katana and Wakizashi
Mounting of Tachi
Mounting of Daggers
The Chief Schools of Japanese Sword-furniture Makers
The Greatest Makers of Sword-furniture
Appendices
A. The Year-periods (Nengo)
B. The Numerals, the 'Ten Stems', and the 'Twelve Signs'
C. The Provinces
D. Care and Cleaning
E. Characters used n the names of swordsminths and makers of sword-fittings
Index
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Genres
ISBN
571047238
Publication
Faber and Faber London