[Chris Dobson]

Greetings all,

First post from Chris Dobson, formerly Master Armourer to the Royal Armouries.

I have just published an eBook: Alla Tedesca? Italian ‘Gothic’ Armour and the Export Trade, inspired by a beautiful pair of late 15th Century Italian pauldrons I found 'hiding in plain sight' in a heavily composite armour in private hands. The book is packed with photos of 15th Century armour, many of which have never been published before. It also contains pieces from private collections, published for the first time. Contributing museums include: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Wallace Collection, The Royal Armouries, Glasgow Museums, The Bargello, Florence, the Museo Civico Bolzano, The Historisches Museum Luzern, The Landesmuseum Zürich, The Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Köln, The Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, The Museum und Galerie im Prediger, Schwäbisch Gmünd and the new Castlerock Museum, Wisconsin.

This photography is combined with extracts from 15th Century Milanese documents and period art, all of which are woven together in the text to give a greater understanding of the North Italian export trade in arms and armour: converting standard armour for the German market, making new pieces 'alla tedesca', and even the training of German craftsmen in Milan. There is also a section on armour produced in Innsbruck and the Tyrol. The book concludes with the onset of the Italian Wars.

This is the first of a series. Next out is an eBook on 'Maxilmilian' armour. Release date October 2012.

Format: PDF file, which is best viewed on a computer screen. The book may be printed off and read as a paper publication, but the definition of the illustrations is intended primarily for computer viewing.

56 pages, 84 illustrations (70 colour, 14 black and white)
Language: English
Published July 1st 2012

Price £25.00

Available here: http://www.masterarmourer.com/online%20shop.html

Happy reading!

[Chris Dobson]

And here's the cover.

It shows one of a pair of original 'alla tedesca' pauldrons by Francesco de Cattanei of Milan, circa 1470-90.

[Matt Easton]

This is a good read - highly recommended.

[Jens Boerner]

Oih. Will get my hands on that as soon as possible!

[Fabrice Cognot]

Excellent !

That's good news


Fab

[Per Lillelund Jensen]

For anyone interested in 15th.c italian armour or 15th.c armour in general this is a must, and absolutely wort every penny.

I warmly recomend buying a copy of this valuable new adition into the subject of late medieval italian armour manufacture.

Best
Per Lillelund