Items

• Fencer from 1947 Esquire Calendar
  Calendar page of the mini 1947 "Esquire Girl Calendar." This Esquire mini calendar was a pocket-sized version of the larger wall calendar produced annually, and this particular February page was cut out of the whole accordion-folded calendar. The original painting of the fencer was painted in early April for the August 1942 edition of Esquire but was replaced by the "George Washington" figure which better suited the wartime fervor.
• February 1955 Esquire Calendar Pin Up
  February page of the 1955 Esquire pin-up calendar. The entire calendar features illustrations by George Petty, and the February image depicts a woman wearing a see-through leotard with a red heart on her breast, a fencing glove, and is bending a fencing sword against the ground. A short poem accompanies the image in the top left: Your Valentine awaits the day With tender heart and sharp epee. (In case you'd planned on candy, Sirs, Get the point - and bring her furs.)
• Epee Competition at Joinville
  Postcard with photograph from the Ecole Normale Militaire de Gymnastique et d'Escrime at Joinville-le-Pont. Taken at Camp de St-Maur labeled as “Une Poule a I’Epee." A crowd watches two epee fencers as a director holds their points together prior to an assault.
• Epee Assaults at Joinville
  Postcard with photograph from the Ecole Normale Militaire de Gymnastique et d'Escrime at Joinville-le-Pont. Taken at Camp de St-Maur. Even though the postcard is labeled as “Assaut de Fleuret,” the group of fencers in this photograph are fencing with epees. The fencer on the right can be seen performing a stop-thrust to the wrist of the fencer on the left.
• Entrance to Camp de Saint Maur
  Photo postcard depicting the entrance to the École Normale Militaire de Gymnastique et de Escrime at the the Camp de Saint Maur.
• Early Provost Diploma from Joinville-le-Pont
  Fencing provost diploma for Monsieur Antoine Louis Dusautoir, soldier of the 20e Battalion de chasseurs à pied. Issued by the Ecole Normale Militaire de Gymnastique at Joinville-le-Pont. Signed by members of the exam jury:Hottelet, le Sergent Major Maitre d'Escrime Lagouarde, le Sous-Lieutenant Instructeur d'escrimeRoubaud, le Lieutenant Instructeur chargé de l'escrimeGrellet, le Commandant de l'Ecole normale militaire de gymnastiqueXXX, le Général Inspecteur de l'Ecole, Présideur[B. Lagouarde, listed in 1873, 1874, 1876, and 1877][Roubaud, listed in 1873, 1874][M. Grellet, listed in 1873, 1874]
• Duel du prince Henri d'Orléans et du Comte de Turin
  Cover engraving depicting the duel between Prince Henri of Orléans and Prince Vittorio Emanuele, the Count of Turin. Vittorio challenged Henri to a duel following Henri's published description of Italian prisoners in Ethiopia as cowards. The duel occurred on August 15th, 1897 lasting 26 minutes and ending after Henri received a serious wound to the abdomen. A short description of the duel is found on page 279, along with a short editorial (roughly translated from the original French): "If we [the story of the duel] had stopped there, it would have been perfect. Why were the Italian newspapers so lacking in tact as to spoil with ridiculous ranting the memory of this chivalrous meeting of two brave, generous young people, both worthy of the warm sympathy of men of heart?"
• Deux Femmes se Battent au Sabre
  Cover illustration and narrative account of a sabre duel between two Polish women near Lemberg (the German name for Lviv, Ukraine). The two women, just twenty years old, had fallen in love with the same man and thought only a duel could decide between then. The duel took place in a wood in the presence of witnesses and ended when one duelist received a disfiguring cut to the face. Article accompanying the cover illustration found on page 242 of the periodical.
• Deux Duels Sensationnels
  Article on the imminent double duel of two well-known Italian masters, Pessina and Vega, against two well-known French masters, Kirchhoffer and Lucien Mérignac. The encounter between these masters was initially designed to be serious but courteous assaults with point d'arret-equipped foils, but degenerated into duels after Pessina and Vega published letters in Neapolitan newspapers that Kirchhoffer and Mérignac took offense to.
• Cercle de l'Escrime a l'Epee - Salle Spinnewyn
  Newspaper article about the fencing school of Anthime Spinnewyn with descriptions of the salle d'armes, notable students (including Maurice Maeteilinck, Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist), school culture, and Spinnewyn's technique and teaching approach.
• Carl Eickhorn Fechtgeraete Catalog
  Carl Eickhorn (Solingen, Germany) catalog covering their complete line of fencing equipment.
• Au palais De L'elysée : Un Assaut d'Armes chez le Président de la République
  The article describes a fencing event hosted by President Félix Faure at the Élysée Palace, emphasizing his enthusiasm for physical exercises, particularly fencing. The event, attended by prominent figures and presided over by military officials such as General Lewal and General Gervais, featured several duels between skilled fencers, including military officers and nobility. The most notable matches included bouts between individuals like Gaston Guignard and Merlin, and the Comte de Lendemann and Chevillard. The event was considered a great success, reflecting well on French fencing and leaving attendees impressed by the president's gracious hospitality. Guests received a beautifully illustrated program, designed by Régamey, provided the illustration for the article.
• An Assault At Arms - Sword Versus Bayonet
  Engraving from Harpers Weekly depicting a fencing bout, or assault at arms, between a fencer armed with a fencing sabre (left) and the other with a fencing bayonet (right). A short article on the assault in includes with the article in the top and bottom left of the page.
• Advertisement for Salle d'Armes Vince
  Advertisement for fencing instruction at Salle d'Armes Vince located at 247 Park Avenue, New York, NY, USA.
• A School of Arms
  Illustrated newspaper engraving of a fencing school.
• 1975 Castello Catalog with Inserts
  1975 Castello Fencing Equipment catalog including illustrations and descriptions for weapons, protective equipment and accessories. Two loose-leaf inserts found with the catalog include a January 1976 price list.
• 1955 Castello Catalog with Inserts
  1955 Castello Fencing Equipment catalog including prices and illustrations for weapons, protective equipment, accessories, and awards. Three loose-leaf inserts found with the catalog include a March 1956 price list and a mail-in ordering form with measurement instructions for jackets and trousers. Also included was a business card noting a change of company address on January 16th, 1956.
• 1939 Castello Equipment Catalog
  1939 Castello Fencing Equipment catalog including prices and illustrations for weapons, protective equipment, accessories, and awards.
• 1933 Saturday Evening Post Cover
  Cover of an April, 1933 edition of the weekly Saturday Evening Post featuring an illustration of a fencer by Alfred F. Cammarata. Aside from the cover art the magazine contained no articles on fencing.
• 1932 Byrrh Advertisement
  A printed French advertisement for Byrrh, an aromatic wine apéritif, featuring two uniformed fencers. It depicts one fencer, sitting and exhausted, and the other, standing with the caption "Je vous offre un Byrrh...Et votre revanche" (I offer you a Byrrh, and your revenge). This suggests the sitting fencer was bested by his opponent and they will go another round. Cut from the original periodical.
• 1910 Harpers Weekly Cover
  Cover of Harpers Weekly featuring an illustration by Harry Lemon Parkhurst depicting a fencer with foil in hand crossing blades with an unseen opponent.
• "The Pleasures of the Barracks" - Sabre Assault Postcard
  French postcard with a photograph of the inside of a military fencing school. Two fencers can be seen fencing with sabres as three other fencers and three uniformed soldiers observe. Foils and fencing masks (both padded and unpadded) line the wall behind.
• "She Never Touched Me"
  Postcard sent to C.M. Holliday in Fultonville, New York in 1905. Front depicts a fencer holding a foil in a lunge with the caption "she never touched me" above her.
• "Le Contre de Septime" Public Assaults Program
  Bifold program for the "Le Contre de Septime" public assaults on April 8th, 1901 presented by a society of military and civilian fencing masters with the same name. Cover in the art nouveau style depicting a long-haired woman wearing a fencing glove, holding a fencing sword, and with a fencing mask at her feet. Back cover depicts a disembodied glove grasping a fencing sword. The event consisted of eight total assaults; six with the foil and one bout each with the sabre and epee de combat. The assaults were directed by Captain LeGlercq of the 7th Artillery Regiment and presided by monsieur Pauwels, "president d'honneur" of the society. The pairings are as follows: Stordiau - Brusten (foil) Remes - De Bakker (foil) Cluytmans - Goujon (foil) Buquoi - Silvestry (epee de combat) Herfs - Michiels (sabre) Goeman - Hansoul (foil) Van de Wiele - Rabau (foil) Verbrugge - Jancart (foil)
• "Foil Proof" Pin-up and Matchbook Cover
  Two renderings of Gil Elvgren's "Foil Proof" pin-up depicting a woman wearing lingerie and wielding a fencing sword while in mid lunge. A plastron with a red heart and a fencing mask are at her feet to her right. The larger rendering of this image was printed by Louis F. Dow Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota that had Elvgren's printing rights between 1937 and 1944. The smaller rendering is likely a matchbook cover by its size.