The 'Lost' Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti(1608): A Rapier Fencing Treatise

Clear and concise instructions on how to fence well in the Italian style. Covers more weapons and off-hand defensives than his first book such as rotellas, targas, and cloaks. I particularly like the extensive footnotes at the end of the book.

Very well translated and curated. Any hema practitioner or sword enthusiast should add this as well as Giganti's first book to their collection. If only we had a third volume!!!

I was going to give it 5 stars but gave it 4. The book is excellent but alas the artist who he used for the illustrations wasn't as good as the artist of his first book. At the time, he seems to have been an instructor at the Order of Santo Stefano so maybe he used someone there to do the art work. But though the art isn't up to it the content is. It includes sections on sword with rotella, targa, cape, and buckler as well as sword and dagger. He also covers dagger vs. dagger, sword and spear.

I bought this as a gift for a medieval sword combat snob and it was very well received. I thumbed through it (having close to no knowledge of medieval swordplay) and found myself getting into it. I had to stop myself before I bent the spine!

Got this for my rapier fighting boyfriend and he loved it. It seating now with his mini collection of rapier books.

A must have for anyone who studied Giganti's first book. His discussion of cuts makes it clear we have been missing a major part of rapier combat.

Not to be glib, but this is a no-brainer. If you're a rapier fencer, click and purchase. For details on form and function, see "The Duellist's Companion" by G. Windsor.

I found it worthwhile after reading Giganti's first book. The translation was fine. My only issue was its format - I prefer the format used by Tom Leoni in his translation of Giganti's first book - in Leoni's book, the relevant plates were on the same page as the text as were the footnotes. In this book, plates were on separate pages and the notes were at the back of the book - necessitating flipping back and forth.