For those in the know, what will be the fate of his unique collection? I sure hope that a museum acquires it as a whole and puts it on display.

That appears to be a distant solution, so far !

I've never posted here before, but the main reason I joined this forum was reading Matchlock's posts. I hope to write historical fiction set during the Italian wars, and Matchlock's posts were absolutely invaluable to me; his detailed explanations and pictures from his collections beat absolutely anything I could find on the web or in bookshops.

So sorry to hear of his passing, and sad that I never got to exchange messages with him directly. :(

My motivation for joining this forum was Michael's educational contributions.

He would be 63 years old, today.
Let not the earth be heavy on him.

Happy birthday dear friend! I'll drink my leasure time beer (German: Feierabendbierchen) in remembrance of thee!

Prosit!

have a horn or so for me too.

have you been promoted to head armourer in valhalla yet? i hear the young fraulein assistants are a nice perk.

A sad passing, no doubt. Just stumbled upon this thread. Michl was the most knowledgeable and generous cat. I wish he had transferred his vast knowledge of early firearms to paper. Recent passing of Bill Gikerson is at least somewhat buttressed by his indispensable Boarders Away volumes. I wonder if Matchlock was working on a book...

I think the only book he published was not about early firearms but about early iron works and furniture, another one of his hobbies:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=book

Apparently he preferred to be generous enough to transfer the knowledge he gathered to the (this) forum but didn't care about putting it down on books :shrug:

Michael RIP
 

I just popped by after a very long absence and I saw "Deceased" under Michael's name. I have not communicated with Michael for a couple of years so I had no idea. I am shocked.

I met Michael thru some mutual internet acquaintances in the early 2000's. We characterized ourselves (being collectors in one of the more arcane areas of collecting) as Whales lost in a sea that make odd noises to find each other. He'd sign himself "Your fellow whale". :)

He was a great help to me and actually went to Nuremberg on my behalf to bid at an auction at Hermann Historica. He got me a Dopplehacken that is the second oldest dated firearm in existence. He was a giving guy with his time and his expertise.

In the mid 2000's we collaborated on writing a book on early gunpowder weapons. We got to a point where we had a manuscript and were passing it around to various publishers. We had interest from a couple but there was another one out there and that put things on the back burner. Unfortunately life happened and we did not pursue it. It might be worth dusting it off.

I introduced him to this forum back in 2008 I guess. I thought that "he had to get out more" and that his knowledge needed an outlet. Based on the quantity and quality of his postings, I think I was correct.

I recall asking him what sort of gun he would like to own/shoot that he didn't have. His answer was a Peacemaker! Surprised me. I told him that if he could get over here I would happily arrange for him to shoot one for as long as he liked.

Anyway, I am saddened. Even though he and I fell out of touch, I considered him a friend and I will miss him.

Rest well Michael.