New Publication Out Now

Dear Forumites,

Now it is done! My recently announced new publication on swordsmiths is out now in English. :D

I am so free to quote from the blurb:

"This index contains a comprehensive listing of more than 20.000 Japanese swordsmiths, from the early days right down to modern times, i.e. from kotô to shinsakutô. It is not simply a list of names, it also provides biographical information according to the extent of a smith´s fame. Aim is to give the reader a coherent picture of a certain smith, that means his civilian name, how did he sign, in which style did he work, and who was his master or his school environment. Thereby, the most common theories on a smith are included and discrepancies in the transmissions are pointed out.

This work is a revised and completely new recorded list of smiths by incorporating all relevant Japanese and non-Japanese sources. Incorrect entries and double listings were deleted and readings corrected. The smiths are listed in alphabetical order and sorted according to their used characters. A list of all characters used in the names of the smiths in this index is available, sorted by stroke order, so that the search of a smith with an unknown reading is also possible."

It comes in two volumes, A-M and N-Z, á 129,90 Euro .

It can be ordered here:

http://www.bod.de/index.php?id=296&objk_id=734983

http://www.bod.de/index.php?id=296&objk_id=734979

Soon it will appear on amazon.de, amazon.co.uk, and somewhat later on amazon.com.

Thank you for your attention.

This will be a must-have book. Congrats Markus.

Brian

Will there be an ebook version on the Amazon Kindle and Apple book store?

I will certainly buy one but I think I will wait for the result of the Greek election first

......My recently announced new publication on swordsmiths is out now in English......

Is there a possibility to see a test page or two to get an impression of it? I would appreciate that.

The german version:

http://books.google.de/books?id=JXerop9 ... 9&dq=sanjo

Uwe G.

Just placed my order as Bod.de had Finland as available shipping country I just couldn't resist the urge , like Brian said from what I've seen in the german edition this book is a must-have. Thank you Markus for all the effort on this book.

Hi Markus,

Is the Euro 129.90 price per volume or for both? Looks like they are to be ordered separately at that price each; so?

Grey

I added some PDF previews as attachments.

@Peter: A kindle version should be available in the near future.

Unfortunately, my publisher told me that an eBook version is not

possibly because of the Japanese characters. But obviously a

kindle edition works as at one of my earlier publications:

http://www.amazon.de/Genealogies-School ... 402&sr=8-8

@Grey: Yes, 129,90 is for one volume, i.e. 259,80 for the set.

Preview1.pdf

Preview2.pdf

I have found my English idioma limit , what is a kindle edition?

@Peter: A kindle version should be available in the near future.

Unfortunately, my publisher told me that an eBook version is not

possibly because of the Japanese characters. But obviously a

kindle edition works as at one of my earlier publications:

Any chance of getting it published on the Apple book store for people with iPads?

Jean, a Kindle is an e-reader - a device that lets you read books & magazines just as if they were in your hand. Great devices!

Ken

Jean.

Kindle is an e book reader, nothing more.

Thanks a lot guys, so can I read/store it on my Ipad under ibooks?

Thanks a lot guys, so can I read/store it on my Ipad under ibooks?

No you would have to install the amazon kindle app. Hopefully Markus can get it published on the Apple ibook store.

Thanks Peter

Edit to add: installed

My copies arrived today, and I'll write few lines about my first thoughts on the books.

The books are hardcovers and have quite attractive appearance as I prefer plain covers over flashy ones. The indexing on the book is great, as the smiths are listed alphabetically and then grouped by first character and page number is given so it's very fast to search a smith's name. The entries are in following manner. The name of the smith (with commonly used characters), the generation if available, the period, the province, variations in signature, and information about the smith. The book also has very good kanji list in the beginning of each volume. This is done by stroke counts like in Haynes' so it's easy to follow and locate the required character, I find this kanji listing much easier to navigate than Hawley's. And also a map of provinces in the back. The amount of information on this book massive, I've only eyed it for an hour or so jumping from one intresting smith to another.

I can recommend this book without a doubt. The extra information about the smiths is the most important part for me as my Japanese is very limited. Reading information (that is sometimes clashing) from various sources and deciding what to believe is hard for a novice collector. Markus said it really well in the preface "It's not difficult to look up names because the Japanese meikan and the western equivalent, Hawley's Japanese Swordsmiths, are quite comprehensive. But it is far more difficult to consolidate the data and all the theories and approaches from the different sources, to weigh up the trustworthiness, and to exclude misinterpretations."