A BOOK REVIEW

M ELEY · 29th October 2006, 08:40 AM

It seems alot of these weapons books written by questionable scholars are popping up. I just got one called "Weaponry- An Illustrated History" by C Willis with wildly inaccurate information on pieces, modern pieces and tourist stuff listed as true weapons,etc. The scary thing is that this book's photos were all taken from the Berman Museum collection (Alibama). Still, I picked up the book for cheap and there were a few nice swords depicted (including a beautiful gem-studded Persian shimshar owned by Abbas I and given to Catherine the Great).

Ian · 29th October 2006, 12:24 PM

This trend seems to be part of a long and not-so-venerable pattern in the antiques markets: the publication of a "guide" that is a thinly disguised catalog of items that will soon be presented for sale.

The few examples on the eBay listing provided by Ariel clearly show that the book has serious errors of fact and values for many of the weapons. Just to add my observations: a 19th/20th C. Dutch klewang/US cutlass listed as a 16th C. falchion ($6,500)

; a 20th C. Visayan talibon listed as a Moro barong ($750)

.

Save your money guys, and I don't think you should revalue your collections based on the amounts included in this book.

Ian

29th October 2006, 12:24 PM	#2
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,455	Very misleading ... This trend seems to be part of a long and not-so-venerable pattern in the antiques markets: the publication of a "guide" that is a thinly disguised catalog of items that will soon be presented for sale. The few examples on the eBay listing provided by Ariel clearly show that the book has serious errors of fact and values for many of the weapons. Just to add my observations: a 19th/20th C. Dutch klewang/US cutlass listed as a 16th C. falchion ($6,500) ; a 20th C. Visayan talibon listed as a Moro barong ($750) . Save your money guys, and I don't think you should revalue your collections based on the amounts included in this book. Ian

29th October 2006, 08:40 AM	#1
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,184	It seems alot of these weapons books written by questionable scholars are popping up. I just got one called "Weaponry- An Illustrated History" by C Willis with wildly inaccurate information on pieces, modern pieces and tourist stuff listed as true weapons,etc. The scary thing is that this book's photos were all taken from the Berman Museum collection (Alibama). Still, I picked up the book for cheap and there were a few nice swords depicted (including a beautiful gem-studded Persian shimshar owned by Abbas I and given to Catherine the Great).