Translator
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
British Basket-Hilted Swords: A Typology of Basket-Type Sword Hilts
British Basket-Hilted Swords: A Typology of Basket-Type Sword Hilts
The phrase basket-type hilts refers to a large group of hilts which provide a degree of protection to the hand and wrist. Basket-hilted swords have featured prominently among British military edged weapons over the past five centuries, from the Wars of the Roses in the mid fifteenth century to the period immediately after the second Boer War of the early twentieth century. In setting out to give a full account of the hilt type, and the many variants within it, the first necessity has been to pro
Rating: 
(out of 3 reviews)
List Price: $ 90.00
Price: $ 85.95
Find More Irish Art Collector Products
<BR%20/>Tags: Typology, swords, BasketHilted, BasketType, British <BR%20/>
Review by Stephen Hand for British Basket-Hilted Swords: A Typology of Basket-Type Sword Hilts
Rating:
I must admit to having rather mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it is an important catalogue and typology of British basket hilts. The book contains hundreds of clear photographs of basket hilts, often from multiple angles. Many of these hilts can’t be seen elsewhere. It also classifies the hilts based on a logical typology. This is certainly a book that deserves a place in the libraries of all sword enthusiasts.
However, the book also has a somewhat surreal quality in the way it focuses on the hilt to the exclusion of the rest of the sword or indeed the sword as an indivisible whole. It’s a bit like reading a book about cars which only talks about their bodies, refusing to even acknowledge that they have engines and wheels. Ignoring the blade of a sword is like ignoring the engine of a car, it misses the whole point of the item. A sword is not an art object, it is a specialised tool that only really comes to life in the hand of a skilled swordsman. I have to wonder whether the author has ever fenced? Reading a book about swords by someone who isn’t a swordsman is like reading a book about cars by someone who doesn’t drive. I was left wondering how someone could know so much about swords and yet not really understand them at all.
So while this book is a very useful tool, it lacks the information necessary to know what (in the absence of being able to personally heft it) the sword was really like, blade length and width, weight, point of balance, centre of percussion etc, all with a picture of the whole sword. As the author of a book on how to fight with the basket hilted sword, I found much of use in this book, but so much more that was missing. One of these days I would like to see a book on swords by someone who doesn’t just know a lot about swords as dead objects, but who also understands them as a practical tool.
Stephen Hand
Author, English Swordsmanship, Medieval Sword and Shield
Editor, Spada, Spada II
Review by Joel Slavis for British Basket-Hilted Swords: A Typology of Basket-Type Sword Hilts
Rating:
It has amazing pictures. I saw some basket hilt designs I had never seen before. The offerings in the modern sword reproduction market for basket hilt swords are very slim compared to the styles that have existed historically.
The book is about $100 so it is not cheap. It has numerous pictures on every page. My critique of it is that it only shows the baskets. The should have had two pictures of every sword. One with as close up of the basket and one of the whole sword. Perhaps more pictures where the basket hilt is not symmetrical on both sides. They should also give statistics of the weight, length, point of balance, profile and distill taper measures. Modern sword collectors and practitioners are very acutely aware of the meaning of these statistics and what they mean to performance. The book is written from the museum curator’s point of view, not the practicing swordman’s. Perhaps a second edition will step up to a more advanced level.
Review by R. Williams for British Basket-Hilted Swords: A Typology of Basket-Type Sword Hilts
Rating:
If you are a sword collector who is wanting to have a source of different patterns and styles of British and Scottish Basket hilt sword guards this is a very good book. It has no information on blades, manufacturing or even unit designation, but for a source of handle/grip/guard components of a unique style of sword, and its derivatives (mortuary, horseman’s broadsword) it fills a gap very well.