Few questions about books and stuff ;P

[Ignis]

Hey,

 

i posted a while back about a sword i was considering to buy and after some advice from here i ended up not going for it and grabbing some books first, so while back i was walking through town and came across these 2 books in an shop with old books (the fact he had these books in itself already surprised me since i dont live in an english speaking place ;P).

 

The Samurai Sword: A Handbook by John M Yumoto

Wich ive seen mentioned here a few times so i figured it was a nobrainer and grabbed it right away and read through it quite fast aswell.

 

The Book of the Sword by Randolph B Caldwell?

Now this one made my think a bit longer if i should grab it or not but i ended up taking it anyway altho it seems a bit harder to read and is more a collection of different papers and articles and notes. I havent completely read it yet but read the "random thoughts from Yohn M Yumoto" that where included in this book and 2 nice sections called "Let the buyer beware" and "on investing in Japanese swords". Now i was wondering if anyone read this book and what their thoughts on it would be?

 

Today i also received Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords (Nobuo Nakahara) and The connoiseurs book of Japanese swords, was just wondering (you probably get asked this alot) but if there was anything else you would suggest as reading material to the newbies?

[Alex A]

Hi Kenneth, "the craft of the Japanese sword" springs to mind. You will get a deja vu feeling from reading these introductory books, but still well worth owning. From then on you will buy where your interests lie.

[Jean]

Hi Kenneth,

 

This topic has already been treated at length several times. Use the search button at the top of the page

[Ignis]

The topic about the suggestion of books perhaps yes but the topic about The Book of the Swords is a bit harder to search for since every word is either too short or too common and thus excluded from the search.

 

I just thought it being weird the book consisting of a bundle of different papers and notes and was wondering (partly considering the age) how relevant these notes still are present day as well as why these particular papers where bundled by the author, do they have a certain significance etc? Perhaps im overthinking this book... It just got me wondering.

[Brian]

Ken,

Caldwell had a large collection, but I haven't heard of this book before. Sounds like a private printing of various papers. Does sound interesting, and I think you did well picking it up. Certainly not common.

 

Brian

[Pete Klein]

http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.c ... ese-swords

 

BTW -- It's a very good book.

[seattle1]

Hello:

The Book of the Sword, published by Tom Buttweiler in 1979, was a handy bringing together of the papers that were delivered at the first NBTHK shinsa in Dallas, I believe in 1972, the papers originally being solicited from the authors by R. B. Caldwell and distributed in 8 1/2" x 11" form at Dallas. They are all worth reading and some are quite original, at least as seen in an English language publication. Some of the articles, perhaps not all, were translated into Japanese and published in the NBTHK's Token Bijutsu on a serial basis.

Arnold F.

[Ignis]

Hey, thanks for the feedback about the book, it is indeed the one in the link altho on my copy the monograph thingy was a bit worn off so couldnt make out for sure what that said.

 

I guess it is worthed getting into then probably go for the 'easier' books first tho cause i still notice when reading these kind of books that i still have to turn back and look up certain terms to know what they are always talking about.

[Uechi]

The best book ( in my opinion ) in english is " The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords" by Kokan Nagayama maybe a little too intense for beginners but loaded with information. I have probably $6000 + worth of books and I constantly go back to that book.

 

 

JDromm

[Brian]

Actually, I still feel that the best book is "The Craft of the Japanese Sword"

Once you understand how they are made and what goes into every stage, then you move on to Yumoto and Connoisseurs etc. But Craft is easy to read and good for a beginner to get a feel for what this hobby is about. Just my 2c

 

Brian

[Grey Doffin]

Rather than The Craft of the Japanese Sword by Kapp & Yoshihara, I would recommend The Art of the Japanese Sword by the same authors. Covers pretty much the same subjects but is more thorough and better illustrated.

Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

The best book ( in my opinion ) in english is " The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords"

 

Kenneth, if you knew everything in this book, you would be head & shoulder above 99% of the rest of us. "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" will get you started on understanding what goes into making a Nihonto, but there's nothing like the details in "Connoisseur's."

 

Ken