Book Reviews

British Basket-Hilted Swords: a typology of basket-type sword hilts , by Cyril Mazansky,
Boydell Press, Woodbridge in association with the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, United Kingdom. ISBN 1 84383 053 1; 292 pp.; 8 7/8” x 11 3/16”; b&w photographs throughout; hrdbnd. Price: $90.00 (Customers who mention this review code, $05040, will receive a discounted priceof $67.50, plus $4.00 s&h. The publisher recommends their secure website for special orders: www.boydell.co.uk/sous.htm).

This publication is the most recent monographic study from the Royal Armouries, and the first produced in association with the Boydell Press. It is a very ambitious work that sets out to establish a uniform typology for the description and classification of basket-hilts produced in Britain from the 15th through 19th centuries.

In his prefatory material, Dr. Mazansky states his debt to the late A.V.B. Norman for providing the inspiration and motivation to produce this study, which is intended to do for the basket-hilt what Mr. Norman's landmark book did for rapiers and small-swords. It should be noted that this work does not examine the blades mounted in such weapons. This is quite appropriate, for in the author's own words (page 2) “ its main purpose ” (italics in the original) is to present a typology system, a descriptive narrative of hilts, and illustrations of all known types and their variants. Dr. Mazansky clearly states his opinion that outside influences regarding hilt development, their media and decoration and so forth, are of little relevance in creating a typological system.

The introduction places the basket-hilted sword within its historical context. The first seven chapters address in great detail (much of which will require re-reading for full understanding) the past and current terminology; English and Scottish hilt design and construction, and a brief discussion of signed hilts and their makers. The author makes great effort to help the reader to understand the rationale and methodology of his descriptive system and to relate the differences between older and new terminology. As one indication of the level of detail, the author identifies nineteen different forms of pommel. Chapters 8 and 9 break down the hilts into three major groups (proto-basket; early basket forms; and fully developed types). Chapter 10 covers what the author describes as “incomplete hilts,” here understood to mean those types of less than “full basket form” and not hilts that lack original elements. Chapter 11 discusses the closely related, so-called “mortuary” hilts. Chapter 12 describes hilts related to those of the previous chapter, but which are sufficiently unique so as to warrant separate examination.

All chapters are heavily illustrated, with an average two to three photos per page, the majority of which are quite consistent in their quality and format, not an easy task considering the variety of sources for images. The author notes that with non-regulation arms such as the classic Scottish basket-hilt there is little evidence to permit accurate dating. In fact, the reader will note that many of the examples shown lack dates, and for those that do, mention is rarely made as to how the date was established, or its source. The author laments the paucity of period illustrations such as portraits that can be used to study and present the weapons in their historic and artistic contexts, but surely it would have been both possible and useful to illustrate some of those that do exist, other than the single detail that appears on the book's dust jacket. The end matter includes an appendix describing the stand used for “in the field” photography, and a bibliography, but there are no indices.

During the process of reading the book, this reviewer briefly discussed it with some colleagues and arms students. Some levied great criticism at the author for producing what they felt was an inadequate book that misidentified weapons, particularly those of regulation pattern, and created a false typology for a form of hilt that they felt reached a peak of evolution early on, and then employed this form virtually without change over the remainder of its working life. In his foreword, Claude Blair called the book a starting point for a study of hilt variations and analyses of forms, and that it surely is. The reviewer feels that one of the work's weaker aspects is its inclusion of hypothetical hilt variants which the author believes would have evolved between documented forms, but for which no evidence is currently known to exist.

Some of the same critics felt that the author failed to seek assistance and advice from qualified sources and scholars. To this last point, the reviewer can only note that the advisors cited included the late A.V.B. Norman, Dr. Claude Blair, Dr. David Caldwell, Stephen Wood, and Philip Lankaster, just to name a few, who can hardly be considered as under-qualified.