Books on Tsuba

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen;

 

I seek begginers books about Tsuba; I have just encountered one on the internet at £119.00 and yet another at $824.00.

Can anyone help with affordable suggestions as to such a book.

Thank you in anticipation.

 

Henry

[Jean]

Henry, There was one totally unexpensive "Tsuba : an aesthetic study" something like this at a ridiculous price, NMB tosogu members will give you the exact name : a very good introduction to tsuba schools - After, the best way is to buy as much catalogs as you can to get familiarized with The kind of tsuba produced by each schools

[Gunome]

Hello,

 

I have "Tsuba no bi", not too expensive, but in Japanese language.

 

Sebastien

[Grey Doffin]

Henry,

I can recommend Sasano: Japanese Sword Guards Masterpieces From the Sasano Collection by Sasano Masayuki. Part one was the only volume published in English (don't know about a Japanese edition) before Mr. Sasano's death. Bob Benson at Bushido (see links) sold and maybe still sells these. Beautiful and informative book on early iron sukashi tsuba.

Grey

[Ford Hallam]

As a starter books with loads of representative examples and pretty decent background information on all the major schools etc I don't think you can do better that the Baur Collection Catalogue by BW Robinson. This would be my first and most strongly recommended reference for any neophyte.

 

A significantly cheaper option with a similar coverage but slightly poorer quality images is the Red Cross Exhibition catalogue from the first war compiled by Henri Joly and K Tomita. The 1972 reprints are very good value for money in my opinion.

 

I love my copy of Sasano's "Early Japanese Sword Guards" but it is quite specific to a relatively small group of schools and only iron guards, which is perfect if that fits with your area of interest

 

"Tsuba, an aesthetic study" is, in my opinion, a terrible beginners book. The images are almost worthless and far too much of the text is heavily biased opinion. Some people swear by it though... It does provide all sorts of clever sounding details that are helpful in making one sound very knowledgeable but often hugely speculative at best or of little use without good examples in hand. Did I mention, I don't recommend this book for beginners.

[Ted Tenold]

"Tsuba, an aesthetic study" is, in my opinion, a terrible beginners book. The images are almost worthless and far too much of the text is heavily biased opinion. Some people swear by it though... It does provide all sorts of clever sounding details that are helpful in making one sound very knowledgeable but often hugely speculative at best or of little use without good examples in hand. Did I mention, I don't recommend this book for beginners.

 

You know, Ford, you really should learn to open up a bit and avoid sequestering your feelings so much.

 

As a resource I agree it's of limited value, but as an affordable one, it still has it's merits. Folks have been bashing Hawley's for years, but everyone seems to have a thumbworn copy of it. :lol:

 

Henry, I'd also recommend that you apply for membership (if you have not already) in some of the Nihonto based clubs. The Northern California Japanese Sword Club often does some very nice articles and illustrates examples of fittings, and is quite affordable even for international membership. There are others that also supply valuable information on a monthly or quarterly basis. Have a look at http://www.ncjsc.org .

[Ford Hallam]

You're absolutely right Ted...my wife says the same thing :? ...but I'm just so shy

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

 

My sincere thanks to you all; I will take note of each valuable reply;

I have taken steps to obtain two books and joined a Society.

Many thanks for your valuable assistance,

 

 

Henry

[Kawai]

Check on line sources for Tsuba, An Aesthetic Study by Kazutaro Torigoye and Robert E. Haynes. Also one of the very best books is The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists by Robert E. Haynes.

[Brian]

Hi,

Please sign all posts with a name as per the rules, thanks.

The first book is the one being discussed at the top of this thread. The other one (Index) is a terrible book for beginners or for tsuba study. It is just a long list of names of metalworkers and a bit of info. No pics, no info on the schools. Just a Hawley's-stlye list of names.

For advanced students I would say, definitely teaches nothing about tsuba though.

 

Brian

[Chriso]

G'day Henry, I've found that the following books have been quite interesting, and are available for free download through Brians post "Interesting book, article and .pdf downloads' at the top of the "General Nihonto Related Discussion" index.

 

Japanese sword-mounts in the collections of Field Museum by Helen Gunsaulus

 

The Japanese sword and its decoration by Helen Gunsaulus

 

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Japanese swords guards by Okabe-Kakuya

 

Best Chris

[Kawai]

Oops, sorry about not signing my post. Should have read the rules more carefully.

 

Kawai

[omorik]

Lethal Elegance by Joe Earle, Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

 

New book, still in print and available online. When the Canadian Dollar was puny it was on sale at Chapters.ca for about $25US. Now that the Canadian Dollar has been taking steroids again, it will set you back $33US maybe.

 

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Let ... gance%2527

 

Not necessarily the most academic book but I think it is gorgeous and aesthetic appreciation is important to develop too. Very inexpensive for what it is.

 

Omorik