Antique Swords & Daggers (Hardcover)

by Mircea Veleanu (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This noteworthy and exceptionally comprehensive book features edged weapons dating from the Neolithic period to the early 20th century. These fascinating antiques come from all over the globe, including Europe, America, the Middle East, Asia, Japan, and Africa. Detailed descriptions and over 890 outstanding color photos help collectors identify and study the characteristics, historical uses, and current values of highly diverse swords and daggers. Among the items showcased are tribal, ceremonial, and presentation edged weapons, Indonesian krises, and Borneo "headhunter" swords. Valuable information is provided about rare artifacts, terminology, and evaluating age and authenticity of the weapons. Novice as well as advanced collectors will find this an indispensable reference.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing; illustrated edition edition (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076432506X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764325069
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,080,777 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should be called: barely antique Swords & Daggers with astronomical prices, December 28, 2006

By	D. Baker "historical arms" (Seattle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being an avid collector and connoisseur of Islamic and Indonesian Arms and Armor, I picked this book, based off of the cover design. Although the book is fully illustrated and well layed out, I had no confidence in the information after the first couple of pages. The author often, and when I say often, I mean 80% of the time, claims swords and daggers to be at least 19th century. This is not the case. Many of the Daggers featured in this book are recently made for the tourist market in Indonesia and India. You can tell by the style of Koftgari technique fairly easy with just a little bit of knowledge on the subject. This also includes Victorian European swords. The prices are off the charts. I laughed when I saw fairly plain Keris daggers, plain dha swords and beat up talwars estimated at over $1500. Now, the author is not selling these pieces (yet), these are just estimated prices.

Perhaps if a few zeros were taken off the prices, that would be more realistic. I would not recommend this book. In fact, for the first time using amazon, I am sending mine back for a refund. I would however recommend anything by Elgood, Figiel, Robinson etc for Islamic ...and Albert Zonneveld's recent book for Indonesian.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the Amateur Collector, August 1, 2007

By	J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Over the years I have let a number of swords pass through my hands, keeping one or two and letting some of the others go, until I decided to go into it a bit more deeply and borrowed this book to see if I had let a fortune pass through my hands.

This book gave me the answer to most of my questions, particularly as it has a price guide as well (but this soon becomes dated) and I really only used it as a guide because book prices and what you can actually get on the open market are usually two different things.

What did surprise was the number of different kinds of swords there are and the quality and workmanship that goes into some of them, mostly ceremonial swords, with etched blades and god wire woven into the hilt. Wht did come across loud and clear was the price that some of these weapons are now fetching. A swords that you could have picked up for £10-£20 thirty years ago is now in the low hundreds. As an aid to identification the book is a useful tool for the enthusiast, although it is not cheap, but what is these days.

2.0 out of 5 stars A major disappointment, October 31, 2007

By	Edward E. Shumaker "hilshire" (NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is however well formatted and professionally scripted, but full of misleading and inaccurate information. Most swords and daggers can be purchased cheaply at vendors stalls throughout Europe, particularly at car boot sales.

Repeatedly, this author makes major errors in his judgement and evaluations, I believe he is good intentioned but really needs to complete his research.