Bauman’s Fight Book, reproduction edition

The Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg Cod.I.6.4º.2 is a German fencing manual of unknown authorship, so it’s usually known as the Bauman Fight Book (after a name recorded in its covers) or Codex Wallerstein (after its 19th century home at Wallerstein Castle). In addition to our exact replica of the manuscript, we decided to release the scans from the facsimile as a normal book.

This manuscriptconsists of two distinct treatises, based on the art style and the handwriting; the first section likely dates to the 1470s, while the second is much older, from perhaps the 1420s. The label “Vom Baumans” and the date 1549 appear inside the cover, leading Hils to speculate that an Augsburg mercenary named Michael Baumann owned the treatise. The first section seems to have been used by Albrecht Dürer as a reference for his own fencing treatise.

The Bauman Fechtbuch is interesting in that its teachings do not seem to fall clearly into the tradition of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer. Part A, which treats long sword, messer, and dagger, and Part B, which treats grappling, are the first entries in a series of manuscripts known as the Augsburg group, which originate from that area and seem to document a local martial tradition. Part C, on the other hand, is the first entry in a complex of treatises known as pseudo-Gladiatoria due to its uncertain relationship to the Gladiatoria group (a tradition not dependent on Liechtenauer). Ps-Gladiatoria covers the same sorts of dueling as the Gladiatoria group and has some 16 plays in common, but the differences are too extensive to classify them as versions of the same treatise.

Version: 1st edition (November 2023)
Length: 224 pages
Softcover
Dimensions: 5 ½ × 8 ½ × ⅝ in.