De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi was written in the late 1400s by Philippo Vadi, for Guido da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. It is dated to between 1482 and 1487, and covers knightly combat on foot, in and out of armour, with sword, spear, pollax, and dagger. It is unusual in that it begins with sixteen chapters of fencing theory, making it a vital resource for anyone studying the martial and literary culture of the quattrocento. The manuscript exists in only one known copy, held in the Biblioteca nazionale di Roma.
Our facsimile reproduces the best scans available, and is bound in glorious hardback, measuring 6×9 inches, as close as we could make it to the size of the manuscript.
You can find it on Amazon US here. And on Amazon UK here, or order it from any bookshop with the ISBN: 978-9527157091
Not every online store stocks it, probably because it’s in Italian.