The Armour Archive

I have more books than I will likely ever read entire, but I collect them and summarize the contents so that I will have a ready reference at hand should I ever need it--and besides, when my sons and daughters look at the massed tons of paper they will understand that their father respects books far more than if I were to say it.

I have found skimming books nearly as useful as spending twelve times as much time with my arse in an easy chair poring over every written word, and so I excuse it in myself as an expedience.

Today I went out looking for more bookshelves, and failed in that, instead returning with more books, all hardback, to wit:

Gustav Dore's version of The Legend of Croquemitaine, or The Fortress of Fear
Elbert Hubbard's Scrapbook
The Complete Essais of Montaigne (about AD1580, France)
A Sourcebook of Medieval History (Ogg, circa 1907)
The Postman (a completely different story than what Costner starred in)
Through the Woods (a botanical/hunting reminiscence book)
The Life of Roger of Sicily
The Face of Battle

All hardback, got them for about $50 total.

There is never an end to the buying of books, or to paraphrase, "Only the dead have seen the end of book buying..."

What have you been buying lately?

Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus

Books on London, 1660-1750. Fascinating reading. Did you know that to use the term 'handkerchief' to describe that object was considered horribly rude? Instead, the term was muchoir.

Also been reading a fascinating book of letters from a Philadelphia lawyer to his old Princeton pals, ca. 1760-1780. Girls, booze, and reminisces of college life...

i just got treasures og great britian from my school library, it wa sonly 5p so i couldn't help myself. i also got master builders of the medieval ages which is a lot more boring than i thought it would be. also the christies armour catalogue of 2001, some really nice pieces in there.

Current reading is a library book, alot cheaper but not as near when I want a reference. My new word of the day is Pottle.

A few weeks ago my wife found Edge & Paddock's "Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight", hardcover in mint condition, at a thrift shop for $3.00.

Here's what came in the mail today:

William Marshal: Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147-1219 by David Crouch
Strong of Body, Brave & Noble: Chivalry & Society in Medieval France by Constance Brittain Bouchard
French Chivalry by Sidney Painter
Chivalry: The Everyday Life of the Medieval Knight by Leon Gautier
The Reign of Chivalry by Richard Barber
Chivalry in Twelfth-Century Germany: The Works of Hartmann von Aue by W.H. Jackson

I'm in 12th Century Heaven right now!

Currently reading The Knight and Chivalry by Richard Barber

The Life and Times of Chaucer by John Gardner.

Klaus