A New, Short, and Easy Method of Fencing: A modernized edition

By William Hope

In 1707, Sir William Hope of Balcomie published a provocative, practical essay on the sword. Where the schools of his day multiplied guards, parries, and fine distinctions, Hope argued that much of the received "art" could be reduced and rectified - above all around a single workable defensive posture, the hanging-guard, extended to both broad-/back-sword and small-sword fencing. This volume is a modernized English edition, not a diplomatic reprint. The 1707 arrangement is preserved - dedication, advertisement to the reader, introduction, seven chapters, appendices - and Hope's technical vocabulary (carte, tierce, longe, contre-temps, and the named parries, etc.) is kept and glossed once in a closing glossary. Long, semicolon-heavy periods are broken into readable modern syntax; spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing are brought in line with present-day usage; a few words whose meaning has shifted in English (for example prevent in the older sense of "anticipate") are updated. Hope's own marginal notes appear as footnotes; editorial insertions where needed are marked in square brackets. The engraved plates (after John Sturt in the original edition) are included, divided and placed at the relevant points in the text. An editor's note explains conventions and the difference between this edition and a facsimile. First printed at Edinburgh by James Watson in 1707; this printing is prepared as Volume I of Sir William Hope of Balcomie - Collected Works (modern edition, 2026).

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1291695907
• ISBN13: 9781291695908
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"