The Collected Works of William Hope

First collected edition of William Hope's five principal fencing treatises in a single volume. This omnibus brings together *A New, Short, and Easy Method of Fencing* (1707), *The Scots Fencing Master* (1687), *A Vindication of the True Art of Self-Defence* (1729), *The Sword-Man's Vade Mecum* (1691), and *A Few Observations Upon the Fighting for Prizes In the Bear-Gardens* (1715)-the complete *William Hope · Collected Works* series between one set of covers.William Hope was the most prolific British fencing author of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. His teaching emphasises sound judgement, calmness, and a Scottish preference for binding the adversary's blade over the feinting schools of the Continent. From the hanging-guard system of 1707 to the compressed rules of the Vade Mecum and the polemic against duelling and prize-fighting, these works trace Hope's instruction across four decades.Four of the five works are presented in modernized English; the Vade Mecum retains the Scots orthography of the 1691 Reid printing as a faithful reading edition. The volume includes a single editor's introduction, John Sturt's engraved plates reset within the text, a unified glossary of fencing terms, and the diplomatic reprint of the 1715 bear-garden pamphlet. Edited by Andy Taylor.Not a facsimile reprint: substantial new editorial matter and modernization throughout.