I just stumbled on very encouraging information. Sir Guy Laking's seminal work "A Record of European Armour & Arms Through Seven Centuries (5 vol. set)" is getting reprinted in 2005 ISBN: 0404183441. The current pre-order price is $295 on Amazon.com. I know it is 1/2 the price of a sword but I will definitely get it. It is still better than the lowest price I found for the old edition ($1749.5).

There is also a new "Catalogue of the European Armor and Arms in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House" by G. Laking.
It is published September 2004, ISBN: 1417949341. I wonder how much overlap is there between this book and the "old" 2 or 3 volume set from 1962?

Now if only Jan Petersen's work gets reptinted.........

Alexi

Isn't the Sir Guy Laking stuff all filled with Victorian assumptions that end up being very inaccurate info? A lot of research has been done since then and makes it simply wrong kind of like Stone and those authors. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I mean no offense

Alexi,

Thanks! Last time I checked that was not the case. I guess I'll have to order a copy.

-Grey

Great news although I shudder to shell out that much for a book. Of course that's why my reference library is so weak in general in the first place...

Russ,

If you are willing to go with a paperback, Amazon.com has The Sword in the Age of Chivalry for $24. I admit that $65 for the hard bound is more than I want to spend, but is not unreasonable. Since the Laking is a 5 volume set (as I understand), that comes out to slightly less than $60 a book. If they are hardbound, as I suspect they are, then the price really isn't all that bad. That doesn't meant that I am going to rush out and buy it, but I'm rather cheap.

-Grey

The Laking reprint that you are refering to does not exist. Call the publisher if you want a verification.

The publisher has been pushing the publish date forward for a LONG time... for more than a few years. I have been watching it since about 2001, IIRC.

Do yourself a favor and spend your $295 elsewhere. I can lead you in a decent direction for armour books, if you would like.

There was a VERY limitted reprint done a few years back through Trotman, I believe. However it was limited to only 100 copies, I believe. The quality of the pictures in the reprint was less than desirable. I have a photocopy of an original and the reprint wasn't much better.

The information in the book is excellent. While there are things in it that have been revisited over the years, it is still a definitive work. The reason being is that much of what Laking touched on has yet to be refuted in any formal fashion.

There are a number of pictures in the book on pieces of armour that are no longer in the state shown in 7 Centuries. A bascinet from the Met's reserve collection, for one.

If you are looking for a substitute to laking's 7 Centuries, grab anything by Blair. I would suggest articles by J.G. Man, also.

Check here for books and let me know if you want any information on anything in either collection:

http://www.armourguild.org/members/brian/booklist.html
http://talbotsfineaccessories.com/armour/BOOKLIST.htm

Drat! Thanks for the tips Brian...

I just wanted to say that I agree fully with Brian. The Laking set is an imperative piece of any book collection, but not something I would suggest to anybody who's not already built a significant library already. As with any collection, choices have to be made during the building of a library and there are many, many other titles that I'd consider absolutely necessary over Laking. In fact, I'd say without these other titles to "ground" or refute some of the material in the Laking books, one might get an incomplete picture of the subject by relying on Laking alone.

*If* this does reach print I'll surely buy one. I've read laking but never owned a copy.

I do have to agree on the subject of this as a definitive reference. It's a great addition to any library but should not serve as the foundation for one. Laking's information has been surpassed by more up to date rescources in many areas.

It would be nice to have it on my shelf though.

can you list Claude Blair's books that you'd suggest?