Joachim Meyer's 1571 fencing Treatise New Translation

Michael Chidester was gracious enough to send me a copy of Rebecca L. R. Garber new translation of Joachim Meyer's 1571 fencing Treatise.

TLDR - Is it worth purchasing? Yes.

The full review -

I have a copy of the Reading Edition of the translation. As a physical item it is well made and should last you a long time even with daily usage. The printing is clear and easy to read. Which for HEMA titles is not always the case.

The translation is well done by Garber and shows her expertise in the area. It is concise and easy to understand why she chose the translations she has made. The style to me is similar to Forgeng in that it seems Garber is attempting to maintain some of the flow and feel of the original text. This is not an updated manual, but a beat by beat translation of the original German.

So if you are someone who has issues parsing through Forgeng's translation due to his stylistic choices, I am afraid I believe you shall have similar issues here.

Overall, though I think it is a wonderful translation and the work put into it was well worth the time and effort.

Now to the 1 million dollar question. In my view is it better than Forgeng's translation?

No. It is not.

However, neither is Forgeng's translation better than Garber.

They are equally good and bad in their own ways, and I often find myself referencing one text over the other text when I go from section to section. How the first translation lays out something in English at times parses better to me than the new, and visa versa.

I do not think that Garber's translation is some magic pill to make Meyer easier to understand over Forgeng. It does however stand alongside it very well.

Places where Garber is stronger than Forgeng is in the layout of the text. It reads easier due to this. Plus the inclusion of the artwork close to the relevant sections makes it much easier to figure out what art is being referenced. This is a much appreciated update.

Also the foreword by Roger Norling is extremely insightful and can help fill in a lot of the background for Meyer's standing in the fencing culture of the time. That alone makes it highly recommended to me.

So which one should you purchase?

Honestly, both if you can. Which is easy for me to say, but I find both as counter points help expand the text more that just the one.

Otherwise, I would recommend if you can to find a way to scan both before you purchase them if you can only get the one. The translations are similar but different enough in style and scope that there will end up being a preference at play.

Garber may edge out Forgeng in my eye here just due to the layout and the Foreword. Both are more up to date than Forgeng.

Do I have any complaints? Yes, but they are aimed at what the book is not and therefore unfair. So I am keeping them to myself. Ask me in person if you see me around.

Overall, this is a great new edition and thank you to Michael Chidester and Rebecca L. R. Garber for doing this work. Please go support them at https://www.hemabookshelf.com/meyer-translation