I would rather say I know as much as some, regarding some topics but learning all the time. One might say I have a bachelor of the arts in spathology, a masters degree in US sword evolution and forever working on a phd dissertation for eaglehead pommel swords. Heck, I only just recently ordered a copy of Wagner's Cut&Thrust Weapons. That puts me only about 55 years behind the curve
ACW inspector names and marks are something I learned simply by running searches and then finally ordering the Hickox guide and Hamilton's Ames history. Most of the rest can be found on Mike McWatters good pages that have been around for about twenty years .
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcol...rks/page1.html
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcol...nspectors.html
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcollector/
The more we put into it, the more we get out of it. The books are big reinforcements. No one knows everything and perhaps the reason I don't publish is to not simply stand on the shoulders of giants. I'm just a Rolodex of flash cards.
For a for instance, I lack the French books regarding, in particular, poincons. Always defer to refer.
Cheers
Thank you for the compliments
GC