The Small-sword in England Its History, its Forms, its Makers, and its Masters

The Small-sword in England Its History, its Forms, its Makers, and its Masters

In 1946 Mr. J. D. Aylward wrote his monograph The Small-Sword in England, reviewing his researches and his collection made over the period of more than sixty years. Due to the exigencies of immediate post-war book production his monograph almost immediately went out of print and for many years it has been a collector's item. In view of the ever-growing interest in the book and its subject Mr. Aylward has now prepared this new and revised edition which has been much expanded and entirely re-designed. For more than a hundred-and-fifty years the small-sword stood high in social esteem. It was the only weapon ever designed exclusively for civilian use and as the "sword of fashion", it was exempted from the operation of the statutes which forbade Englishmen to go armed. It was a steadfast companion of every English gentleman, an essential part of his dress, the guardian of his honour, and in the last resort the perfect instrument for his defence. In practice, its wear was confined to the gentry, and thus it became accepted as a visible badge of estate.

It is only recently that collectors have begun to recognise the existence of the small-sword which they had long professed to scorn as hardly better than a stage property. Mr. Aylward has made a valuable addition to the literature of the subject, and is lucky in the possession of a highly-inquisitive mind which has led him to explore the techincal problems connected with small-swords as well as studying them from the artistic and literary view points.

J. D. Aylward
Hardcover with like d/w of 176pp Hutchinson 1960

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