Bibliography of Arms & Armor: General
Mord Hrutsson the Green (Steven P. Blowney)

Arms and Armor in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Musuem of Art, 1974. A little catalog with a photograph that shows some detail of a 16th century piece. Short, general bibliography. *

Armes et Armures/ wapens en Harnassen. Brussels: Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en van de Krijgsgechiedenis, Brussel, 1987. A bilingual catalog. There are a few full harnesses here, but there are many pieces in this hodge podge collection. There are helms from the 14th to the 16th century, swords from the 10th tho the 17th century, lots of pole weapons, and firearms. Good photos. No notes or bibliography. *

The Art of the Armourer. London: Arms and Armour Society, 1963. The catalog to an exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Not everything in the exhibition is shown in the catalog, which is a pity. Still, of interest is a late 15th century armor, 16th century armors, 12th century swords, and a Japanese armor. No notes or bibliography.

Atti del l Congresso Internazionale Amateur di Armi Antiche Uniformologia Arte E Storia Militare. (First Internatinal Congrss of the Amateurs of Anicient Arms, Uniforms, Military Art and History). Turin, Italy: Accademia D.S. Marcinano. Arms and Armor and various military equipment from, as far as I can tell, The 15th century to about the time of Napoleon. John Hayward writes an article of interest. No notes or bibliography.

Catalogue of Books. The John Woodman Higgins Memorial Library. Publication date unknown. This catalog lists by author and has a detailed subject index. Useful, but I found this work in the Philadelphia Museum of Art library. The Higgins Museum , I would not doubt, has it, but I am not sure of the title, and so I do not know if it can be found anywhere else. *

Directory of Museums of Arms and Military History. Copenhagen: The International Association of Arms and Military History, 1970. A useful little book which describes the holdings of the various museums from around the world. *

Mostra Della Armi Antiche in Palazzo Vecchio. Firenze: Tipocalcografia Classica, 1938. Arms and armor from the Greeks and the Romans and then the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Good photos, though not all pieces are shown. No notes or bibliography.*

Musee des Armesrares, Anciennes et Orientales de Sa Majeste L'Empereur de toutes les Russies. St. Petersbourg. A very big catalog of a Russian museum. Included here are European, Mongolian, and Islamic arms and armor in lithographs. I'm not entirely sure of this work's accuracy, but it seems to be a 19th century work. No notes or bibliography. *

Museo-ARMERIA de D. Jose Estrach y Camella. Barcelona, Spain: 1896. Armors, cannons, helms, swords, hafted weapons, on and on and on from various times from Europe and the Mediterranean region. No notes or bibliography. *

The Tower of London. London: Her Majesties Stationary Office, 1957. A guide to the Tower--not the armor in the Tower. Still some good photographs. No notes or bibliography. *

Ash, D. "The Fighting Halbeard." The Connoisseur. May, 1950, pp101-105. Halbeards from the 13th to the 16th century. The halbeards come from various places in Europe. Author attempts to define forms of the weapon. Good photographs. No notes or bibliography.

Bant, C.G.E. "Swords of Honour." The Connoisseur. December, 1943, pp100-107. Swords of state and "honor" from the 5th century to the present day. Reasonable photographs that lack detail. No notes or bibliography.

Beard, C.R. "The Joesph Mayer Collections: Part I." The Connoiseur. March 1935, pp135-138. This article describes part of a finger gauntlet, two 11th or 12th century helms, and a 16th century two handed sword. No notes or bibliography.

________. "Helmets at St. Donat's Castle in The Collection of William Randolph Hearst, Esq." The
Connoisseur. March, 1939, pp.129-135. Helmets of the 14th through 17th centuries and a Roman helmet from 1st century. A splendid collection of sallets and armets. Good photographs. No notes or bibliography.

________. "Staffweapons: A Comment on Major Charles Ffoulkes' 'Inventory and Survey of the Armouries of the Tower of London.'" The Connoisseur. Nov. 1922, Vol. LXIV, no. 255, pp. 163-165. A comment on Ffoulkes' work. Reasonable photos of halberds and poles. No notes or bibliography.

Belous, R.E. A Distinguished Collection of Arms and Armor. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969. LC# 68-58975. Of interest here are a few 16th century armors, a few ancient weapons, a few archery weapons, a few medieval weapons, and some Japonese and Islamic arms and armor. The rest is firearms from the 15th century to the 19th century. Very short descriptions. No notes or bibliography. *

Bobrovnitskaya, I. et al. The Armoury in the Moscow Kremlin. Moscow: Sovietsky Khadozhnik Publishers, 1988. This work is in Russian. There are some arms and armor here--some of it looking Islamic (Turkish? Mongolian?). Good photogrpahs. Lots of firearms. *

Boeheim, W. Waffensammlung. Wein: J. Lowy, K a. K Hofphotograph, 1894. Arms and armor in seemingly two volumes. Armor from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Islamic arms and armor. Firearms. Good photographs if lacking in detail. No notes or bibliography. *

Boccia, L. Museo Poldi Pezzoli. Milano, Electa Editrice, 1985. The catalog of a cities collection, and it is a huge collection. Good to excellent photography. This is a useful book. Bibliography. *

Cripps-Day, F.H. A Record of Armour Sales, 1881-1924. London: G. Bell and Sons, LTD., MCMXXV. All sorts of armors and pieces in this work, though not all of it is shown. This is a month by month, year by years list of sales. There is a long list of illustrations. *

Dean, B. Catalogue of European Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1905. Probably considered a really fine work in its day. This is a short work that starts with a Greek Hopilite, a Roman soldier, Barbarian warriors, and ends with plate armor. This book does not contain the finest photos I've seen, and I am dubious about the diagrams. Bibliography. No notes. *

Dean, B. Handbook of Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, 1915. Ancient, medieval, renaissance, Japanese, and Islamic arms and armor. This work was probably very useful in its time, and it probably has been surpassed. Reasonable photos. No notes or bibliography. *

Dean, B. Handbook of Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, 1921. Essentially the same as the 1915 edition. *

Dean, B. Notes on Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, 1916. A collection of Dean's short articles. Something for all here. Reasonable photos. No notes or bibliography.*

Dean, B. & S.V. Grancsay. Handbook of Arms and Armor, European and Oriential. New York: The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, 1930. A revision of Dean's original work only in that there are three additonal chapters by Grancsay. Chapters 3 through 9 are the same as written by Dean. Grancsay writes about Dean's collection. No notes or bibliography. *

Ellshauge, M. Certain Phases in the Origin and Development of the Glaive. Copenhagen: Nordlanden Bogtrykkeri, 1945. The glaive (a type of polearm) as it delveloped. Line drawings of its development. Lots of notes.

________. The Spear Traced Through its Post-Roman Development. Conpenhagen: N. Olaf Moller, 1948. The spear from Late Roman times to the 19th century. Line drawings of all the types, including Norse, Frankish, and later Middle Ages. Notes.

Ffoulkes, C. "The Craft of the Armourer." The Connoisseur. June, 1909, pp99-104. For the curious. This article is perhaps a precursor to Mr. Foulkes' famous book, which I am told is inaccurate. This article contains some interesting contemporary pictures of armorers at work and a list of armorer's marks. No notes or bibliography.

________. European Arms and Armour in the University of Oxford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912. The arms and armor of the Ashmolean and Pitt-Rivers musuems. This is not a complete catalog; there is not much that is medieval: a viking age sword, a few two handed swords and some pole weapons. Most of what is presented is from the 17th century. Firearms incluede. No notes or bibliography. *

________. "European Arms and Armour." in Social Life in Early England. G. Barraclough (ed). New York: Barnes and Noble, 1960. An abridged version of a previous work. Drawings only. The author reads very convincingly, but I have my doubts. Includes a very short, now well surpassed, even for 1960, bibliography. Readers would do well to avoid this essay.

________. "The Armourer's Company of London and the Greenwich School of Armourers." Archaeologia. Vol 76, 1926. Really, for the curious. This article is all about the development of the Greenwich armory. Examines the records of that armory, and shows some of armors made there. No notes or bibliography.

________. "Some aspects of the Craft of the Armourer." Archaeologia. Vol. 79, 1929. All about armor as a practicle art and how it developed during the Middle Ages into a profession. Good photos and a few drawings. No notes or bibliography.

Gessler, E.A. Fuhrer durch die Waffensammlung ein a briss der schweizerischen Waffenkunde. Aarau: Schweizerischen Landesmuseum, 1928. Swords from the early Middle Age to the Renaissance. Pikes and poles, helms from the 15th century. 17th century armors. Crossbows. Firearms. Reasonable photos. No notes or bibliography.*

________. Fuhrer durch die WaffenSammlung. Zurich: Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, 1928. Swords, axes and poles--lots of them. All pieces are from Europe from the Early Middle Age to the Renaissance. Some 16th and 17th armor pieces. Surprisingly few crossbows. Firearms. No note or bibliography. *

Grancsay, S.V. The Bashford Dean Collection of Arms and Armor. Portland, Maine: The Arms and Armor Club of New York City, 1933. Once you read through all the complimentary articles about Dr. Dean, you find a very good catalog. The diagrams alone look very useful. The diagram of the evolution of helmets, for instance, was reprinted in an article in the World Encyclopedia of Art as late as 1958 (though I believe the diagram has been surpassed). There are some very famous armors shown coming from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Firearms are included. Long bibliography of Dr. Dean's works.

________. Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitian Musuem of Art, 1953. A catalog of an exhibition in Los Angeles showing 15th, 16th, and 17th century armors and pieces of armor. Firearms included. Good photos--some showing details, some not. No notes or bibliography. *

________. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Rennaissance Arms and Armor. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, 1953. Same catalog as the Los Angeles catalog. *

Grosz, A. Der Harnisch. Vienna: Kunstverlag. Anton Schroll & Co., 1925. Arms and armor from the 7th to the 16th century. Some famous pieces here. Not very good photos--hard to see detail. No notes or bibliography. *

Haenel, E. Kostbare Waffen aus der Dresdner Rustkammer. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hiersemann, 1923. The catalog of a collection from Dresden, Germany. The armor seems to come from the 16th and 17th centuries. The arms come from the early Middle Ages through the Renaissance. Crossbows of the 17th century are included. The photographs are splendid in this fine catalog. No notes or bibliography. *

Joubert, F. The Collection of Arms and Armour Formed by Lord Howard de Walden. London: H. & W. Brown, 1927. Ancient (Bronze Age) and Late Medieval arms and armor. Photos show some detail--especially the ancient works. Swords go into the 17th century. No notes or bibliography. *

Jubinal, A. La Armeria Real de Madrid. Paris: A. Morel & cie. This 19th century catalog comes in three large volumes. The work seems to be a hodge podge of drawing of arms and armor, including one Japanese. The quality of the drawings I find dubious. *

Kelly, F.M. "Arms and Armour at the National Gallery." The Connoisseur. August 1902, pp216-221. Arms and armor in paintings. So-so photographs of the paintings. No notes or bibliography.

Laking, G.F. "Mr. Edward Barry's Collection of Arms and Armour at Ockwells Manor, Bray." The Connoisseur. Febuary, 1905, pp.67-55. A fine collection of arms and armor well presented for its day. 14th (late), 15th, and 16th century armors, pieces of armor, an 11th century sword, and a few 15th century pole weapons. Good photographs. No notes or bibliography.

________. "The Armoury of the Late Mr. Morgan Williams of Apergum." The Connoisseur. May, 1910, Vol. XXVII, no. 105, pp.31-37. This article does not display the entire collection. Swords from throughout the Middle Ages are shown. The photographs are vague and undetailed. No notes or bibliography.

________. "Armaments of the Stage." The Connoisseur. July, 1911, pp105-108. Three photographs of actors in armor. Two of these actors look very grim while the third looks gallant. No notes or bibliography.

Macoir, G. Le Musee Royal d'Armes et d'Armures de la Porte de Hul a Bruxelles. Brussles: Jules De Meester et Fils, 1928. A hodge podge of arms and armor from various places, mostly Europe, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. So so photographs. No notes or bibliography.

Mann, J.G. Notes on the Armour Worn in Spain from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century. Oxford: Society of Antiquaries of London, 1933. Also found in Archaeologia Volume LXXXIII. A solid scholarly work that uses comtemporary pictures and sculptures, drawings, and photographs. All are excellent and useful. There is also a short list of armorer's marks. Notes.

________. "The Meyrick Society and an Exhibition of Swords." The Connoisseur. August, 1940, pp. 47-53. Swords from the 9th to the 18th century. I would have loved to have seen this show, even if the photographs do not show much detail. No notes or bibliography.

________. "Gauntlets and the Meyrick Society." The Connoisseur. October, 1960, pp. 97-102. Mostly gauntlets of the 16th century. There is one Japanese and 14th century pair included. Reasonable photographs. No notes or bibliography.

________. "The Decoration of Armour." House Magazine. Summer, 1962, no.54. I saw this article reprinted as a pamphlet. This is a brief, popular article which shows a Japanese armor and several 16th and 17th century pieces. No notes or bibliography.

________.An Outline of Arms and Armour in England From the Early Middle Ages to the Civil War. London: HMSO, 1960. This is a pamphlet; one of the better one I've seen. Good photographs of armor from the 11th century to the 17th century. Some of the photographs, such as the one of the Sutton Hoo helmet, have been surpassed, but the author notes the provenance of each photograph. Short bibliographic essay in the back, but no notes. A good place to start.

Miller, Y. (ed.). Russian Arms and Armour. Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1982. Lots and lots of firearms and swords in this catalog. The armor here looks Islamic (Turkish, perhaps?) Good photographs. There is an especially good photograph of the helmet of good king Yaroslav I. Lots of mail. *

Muller, H. et al. Alte Hieb und Stich waffen. Sonderaasstellans des Museums fur Deutsche Geschichte. A catalog of swords and edged weapons from prehistoric times to the 19th century. Good photographs. No notes or bibliography. *

Muller, H. & H. Kolling. Europaische Hieb-und-stich Waffen aus der Sammlung des Museums fur Deutsche Geschichte. Berlin: Militarverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1981. Lotsof swords and edged weapons (poles, spear points) from the early Middle Age to World War I. Bibliography. *

________. Europaische Helme aus der Samlung des Museums fur Deutsche Geschichte. Berlin: Militarverlag der Deutschen Deomkratishchen Republik, 1984. A catalog of helms, helmets, and hats--lots of German stuff--from ancient times (a few examples) to the 20th century. Hugh bibliography. Excellent photos. No notes. *

Niox, General. Armes & Armures Anciennes. Paris: Le Musee de L'Armee, Vol.I 1917, Vol.II 1927, Vol.III 1927. This is a catalog of three volumes: The first and second volumes is about 15th,16th, and 17th century armor and weapons from the early Middle Ages to the 17th century. The third volume is photographs. Firearms are included. There is no seeming organization to this work. The third volume almost seems to be a afterthought. Good photographs. *

Oakeshott, E. "Beati Omnipotensque Angeli Christi (Blessed & Omnipotent the Angels of Christ)." from The Third Park Lane Arms Fair. Oliver, D. (ed.). London: Apollo, 1986. Five medieval swords of the 11th, 12th, 13th, century. *

________. "The Sempach Family of Swords." from The Fourth Park Lane Arms Fair. Oliver, D. (ed.). London: Apollo magazine, 1987. Swords from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. Good photos. *

________. "A Man at Arms of the Late 15th Century." from The Fourth Park Lane Arms Fair. Oliver, D. (ed.). London: Apollo magazine, 1987. A short article with one reasonable photo.

________. "The Paragon of England." from The Fifth Park Lane Arms Fair. Oliver, D. (ed.). London: Apollo magazine, 1988. A 14th century armor.

di Quaregna, L.A. Armeria Antica e Moderna di S.M. Il Re D'Italia in Torino. Torino (Turin), Italy: 1898. Arms and armor in three volumes:
1. European, Islamic, and Japanese armor. For European armor, mostly 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
2. Helmets, shields, and horse armors.
3. Weapons, swords, maces, and daggers.
This is a really fine work with excellant photos. No notes or bibliography. *

Reid, W. "The Present of Spain." The Connoisseur. Late 13th century and a couple of crossbows. Firearms included. Reasonable photographs. A few notes. No bibliography.

Reverseau, J.P. Musee De L'Armee Paris (Les armes et la vie). Paris: Dargaud Editeur, 1982. ISBN 2-205-02390-X. Certainly the photographs in this book are splendid. The text is in French. The work is a catalog of a museum and covers from the Early Middle Ages to the 18th century. Firearms are included; also a catalog of armorer's marks. Bibliography.

Rossi, F. Guida del Museo delle Armi "Luigi Marzoli." Brescia, Italy: Grafo Edizioni, 1988. A splendid little catalog of Italin arms and armor from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Some odd pieces, like a barbute with a nasal, are shown. Good photographs. Firearms included. No notes or bibliography. *

Thomas, B. Die Helden rustkammer. Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-7648-0609-5. A reproduction of an 18th century catalog. Though rather splendid, this catalog contains only etchings, so while they maybe accurate, they do not show much detail. No notes or bibliography. *

Van Mulderghem, J. Catalogue des armes et armures du Musee de la Porte de Hal. Brussels: Emile Braylant, 1902. A catalog of the collection Seemingly definitive--certainly large. A few photos which are not very good. No notes or bibliography. *

Ward-Perkins, J.B. Medieval Catalogue. London: Her Majesties Stationary Office, 1954, reprinted 1967. Chapter I is on weapons. Swords, knives, daggers, axes, etc are all were found in London. Weapons range from 11th to 15th centuries. Reasonable photographs; good diagrams.

Watts, E. A Young Person's Guide to European Arms and Armor in the Metroploitan Musuem of Art. New York: The Metrolpolitan Museum of Art, 1982. ISBN 0-87099-282-1. A very basic guide to the European collection with photos of some of the more "famous" armors in the Met. No note or bibliography. *

Wegeli, R. Inventar der Waffensammlung des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern. Bern: Bernischen Historischen Museum, 1920. Armor from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Shields, helms (bascinets), a couple of small plate brigendines, and full armors from the 16th to the 17th centuries are shown. Good photographs, drawings, and digrams. No notes or bibliography. *

________. Inventar der Waffensammlung des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern II. Bern: Bernischen Historischen Museum, 1929. Swords and daggers, mostly from the 15th to the 17th centuries, but a few swords from between the 6th to the 12th cneturies. Reasonable photographs. No notes or bibliography. *

________. Inventar der Waffensammlung des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern. III. Stangewaffen. Bern: Bernischen Historischen Museums, 1939. Maces, axes, spears, and polearms (in its various forms) from the 10th to the 18th century. List of maker's marks. Reasonable photos. No notes or bibliography. *

Woosnan, R.C. "Robert Lyons Scott." from The Fifth Park Lane Arms Fair. Oliver, D. (ed.). London: Apollo magazine, 1988. An article about an armor collector. Photo of a 15th century Millanese armor.