Knives and Scabbards

This is the first volume of the wonderful series produced by the Museum of London that catalogs the many medieval artifacts that have been dug up, mostly along the London waterfront. It has just been reissued by a publisher that distributes in the U.S. (a great improvement, considering how difficult it used to be to get these books.) This series is essential to the study of everyday material culture of the Middle Ages - the objects studied are not the most valuable and artistic that seemed to be worth saving, but the everyday things that got lost or discarded when broken.

This volume is a must for metal workers and leather crafters. Blades are examined by their shape, detailed metallographic examination has been done on some, there is a chapter on manufacturing techniques and one examining pictorial evidence for the uses and wearing of knives. The scabbard section shows a wide range of leather decoration, including stamping, embossing, plaiting and engraving. There is a short chapter on their heraldic decoration and manufacturing techniques and guild history are discussed.

$45.00 (hardcover)