Crossbow book question -- myArmoury.com

Dustin Faulkner · Posted: Wed 03 Nov, 2010 8:36 pm Post subject: Crossbow book question

Hello:

I am wondering if anyone has "The Crossbow" book by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey. Is it a good book? Does it adequately explain how crossbows were made?

I would like to attempt to make my own crossbow instead of paying the high prices for modern crossbows. I want the satisfaction of having made it myself.

I confess I made a similair inquiry before, but I lost the links people gave me. I think someone mentioned a book about Appalachian crossbows. Those looked like fun! However, the table of contents of Gallwey's book looks very extensive.

Thanks guys! Big Grin

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

In addition to whatever forum responses you get, there are three member reviews in our Books Section. it's a start.

Kel Rekuta · Posted: Fri 05 Nov, 2010 9:06 am Post subject:

Payne-Galway is accessible reading although badly dated and suffered from too much personal anecdotal evidence. Gotta love a guy that spent his time and coin exploring a topic in this depth though... Cool

If you can manage the language, a recent French publication is an excellent resource as well.
http://www.amazon.fr/Armes-diable-Arcs-arbal%...2753500398

There seems to be a lot of information on making your own crossbow freely available on the Net. There is a fun community at www.crossbowforum.com as well.

Joel Minturn · Posted: Fri 05 Nov, 2010 11:59 am Post subject:

I have a copy of "The Crossbow" Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey and it is a good read. There are quite a few illistrations through out the book including some closer examinations on how various crossbows work. But like Kel mentioned some of the information is a little dated. Despite that I would recommend it as a should read for any crossbow maker, just not the end all be all of sources.

I am also working on building a crossbow as well, so here are some sites that have helped me out.
http://crossbows.net/ifboc.php New World Arbalest, Crossbow builder down in Texas. This page containes a link to a pdf Copy of "Iolo's First Book of Crossbows". A short book that is a great introduction to medieval style crossbows and bolts. A GREAT source of information for such a small book.
http://www.alcheminc.com/crossbow.html - They sell crossbow parts and at the bottom of the paget are some plan for a simple medeviel style crossbow.
http://thearbalistguild.forumotion.com/ - a forum for crossbow builders, still fairly young but has some knowlegable people on it.

Mrak E.Smith · Posted: Tue 09 Nov, 2010 3:49 am Post subject:

Blaz Berlec · Posted: Tue 09 Nov, 2010 8:54 am Post subject:

If you read German, Die Armbrust by Egon Harmuth (1986) is by far the best books on medieval crossbows I have seen. I don't know if it's worth 100+ EUR though (rare, out of print for a long time).

Kel Rekuta · Posted: Tue 09 Nov, 2010 10:28 am Post subject:

Mrak E.Smith · Posted: Tue 09 Nov, 2010 10:56 am Post subject:

Mark T · Posted: Wed 10 Nov, 2010 2:14 am Post subject: Here are a couple...

Historical:

Crossbows in the Royal Netherlands Army Museum, Jens Sensfelder (Uni of Chicago Press, 2008): http://www.amazon.com/Crossbows-Royal-Netherl...amp;sr=1-1

This is also available as a microfilm edition: http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9789059721...rmy-Museum

And European Crossbows: A Survey by Josef Alm (Royal Armouries Monograph), Josef Alm (Royal Armouries, 1994): http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780948092...-Crossbows (This is not currently available from either The Book Depository or Amazon, and the RA shop section is 'temporarily closed for maintenance'.)

For making crossbows, I know that one of the popular books of the 1970s or 80s had plans. A little research will find the names of titles from this time so it shouldn't be too hard to track it down.

There was also a plan in one of the Popular Mechanics or Popular Science-type magazines years back that became a bit of a holy grail - it may well have been scanned and uploaded as a pdf somewhere by now. Perhaps the folks at some of the above forums will know ... but perhaps they'll have more useful information available anyway.

Finally, there's The Practical Guide to Man-Powered Weapons and Ammunition, Richard Middleton (Skyhorse Publishing, 2007): http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781602391...Ammunition ... not sure if it will have what you need, but could be interesting just for the fun of it ...

Oh, and Bob Reed had a thread somewhere - perhaps on The Armour Archive or FireStryker - about getting an arbalest made ... could have some interesting information.

Mark T · Posted: Wed 16 Jul, 2014 5:28 pm Post subject:

Here's a new one:

A Deadly Art: European Crossbows, 1250–1850, Dirk H. Breiding (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014).

Pic below.

I'll let someone else who knows what they're doing make this into a link so you can find it on Amazon via myArmoury's referral arrangement! Happy

Leo Todeschini · Industry Professional

As has been said, Payne-Galwey is a great start and very useful and in fact started me off, but yes it is anecdotal in parts and possibly simply made up in others, but a good founding nonetheless.

Die Armbrust is in large part Payne Galweys work translated into German with some additions - save your money.

Good luck

Tod

Audun Løkse · Posted: Fri 18 Jul, 2014 5:36 am Post subject:

Well, thank's for saving me a heap of money, was saving for "Die Armbrust"...

On the other hand, there is another excellent German book out there, definitely worth it just for the pictures. And there is also a short English summary towards the end, IIRC. It focuses on composite bows, but as we have seen, it is possible to dress a steelbow to look like a hornbow.

Mark T · Posted: Mon 21 Jul, 2014 12:19 am Post subject:

Audun,

Thanks for that lead!

Not a book as such, but here's a quick online introduction by The Medieval Combat Society: http://www.themcs.org/weaponry/crossbows/crossbows.htm

Audun Løkse · Posted: Mon 21 Jul, 2014 2:24 am Post subject:

Thanks for an excellent little write-up. I am most intigued by the statement that
"The earliest illustration of a cranequin is 1373" ("The Devills Enginne, Early Medieval Crossbows 1066-1400, Gary G. Ball, 2000")

That is a good fifty years earlier than anything I know of regarding cranequins.
As it happens, that little book is available from Caliver Books, and I have just put it on order. Will be interesting to see.

Mark T · Posted: Mon 21 Jul, 2014 3:47 pm Post subject:

Here are some lists of publications about crossbows; this page says it was last updated in 2002, so it won't include some of the more recent publications, but there's still a lot here.

The initial lists were compiled by Brian Jones, but the page also includes references supplied by Jens Sensfelder, author of Crossbows in the Royal Netherlands Army Museum.

Enjoy!: http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval/crossbow/xbow-resources.html

Mark T · Posted: Mon 21 Jul, 2014 4:08 pm Post subject:

There's also the Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries: http://www.societyofarcher-antiquaries.org/publications.htm

CDs of issues 1-45 are available to members who make a donation of £15 or more; memberships are £20 for UK and Europe, £25 elsewhere; for the amount of information contained, this is a bargain.

The page above contains the content lists of some back-issues; contents lists for 2004-2007 can be found here: http://www.moonlightrunes.net/sls/jsaaindex.html

I'm personally looking forward to reading:
- The 'naked' cranequin: An example of artistic and technical skill in the 16th century, Jens Sensfelder
- A quiver for crossbow bolts, Alessio Cenni
- Different ways of fixing the cranequin, Holger Richter
- Notes on Cranequin Making in the Late 15th Century by W.E.Flewett

The Society also runs a forum, which specifically has a 'Books, Prints, and Manuscripts' section: http://www.societyofarcher-antiquaries.org/forum/

Mark T · Posted: Tue 22 Jul, 2014 3:54 pm Post subject:

For anyone else who had looked at the website for the Society of Archer-Antiquaries and wondered if they were still in existence and publishing, I've just received an email from Hugh Soar, their Honorary Secretary, to let me know they're very much still around, and this year's edition of the Journal has just been published.

From the few journal contents lists that are online, the back-issues sound like they'll be a mineload of information.

Mark T · Posted: Sun 27 Jul, 2014 11:10 pm Post subject:

I just found out about the Jahrblatt Der Interessengemeinschaft Historische Armbrust, edited by Jens Sensfelder, author of the wonderful Crossbows in the Royal Netherlands Army Museum ... and they have back-issues also.

Oh dear! Laughing Out Loud

Duncan Hill · Posted: Thu 24 Sep, 2020 6:37 am Post subject:

I'm resurrecting this thread to chime in that I've managed to establish a decent english library on crossbows, largely through abebooks - bought Payne-Gallwey, Joseph Alm, and Sensfelder's "royal armories" books there at very low cost (on amazon, sensfelder's goes for something like $600CAD; on abebooks I got it for $50 I think). Sensfelder's has been really good because of the extremely detailed measurements given for each bow. Although the collection surveyed therein is fairly limited, and pretty much all sporting bows, within that category there is a good variety.