RL Scott Library
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of over 3,000 books and manuscripts belonging to Robert Lyons Scott (1871–1939) which date from between 1291 and 1936. This exceptional collection, one of the three most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world, deals with all aspects of military theory and practise from fencing, cavalry and artillery to unarmed combat and hunting. It was amassed by the Greenock shipbuilder and fencing enthusiast RL Scott and ranges from a manuscript folio relating to a tournament at Senlis, France in 1291, to a scholarly work on fencing dating from 1936. Some of the earliest books include those by the German 14th century fight master Johannes Liechtenauer. Writings of the Roman military tacticians Frontinus, Aelianus, and Vegetius are also represented from the 15th century onwards. The great European Renaissance theorists and practitioners of swordsmanship are remarkably and comprehensively represented in many first editions with one book by Manciolino the first to be published in Italian (1531). Other works from the Italian peninsula include those of Agrippa (1553), Dall'Agocchie (1572), Viggiani (1588), Marozzo (1484–1553), Di Grassi (1570), Ghisliero (1587), Fabris (1606), Giganti (1606), and Capoferro (1610). De Carranza (1582), De Narváez (1600), De Heredia (about 1600), and De Carmona (about 1640) represent those of the Iberian peninsula, while works in French include those by Sainct Didier (1573), Dancie (1623), Thibault (1628), and Besnard (1653). English works include those by Silver (who was active between 1580–99), Swetnam (died 1621), and Hale (1614) whilst the Scots are represented by the works of Donald McBane (1664–about 1730) and the Edinburgh-based baronet Sir William Hope (1664–1729). Three of the collection’s treasures are: a vibrantly colourful manuscript of Liechtenauer and his followers; a manuscript in the hand of the fight master Gregor Erhart (1533); and a book by Andre Pauernfeindt (1516) which was one of the first books with woodcuts ever to be published on swordsmanship and one of only two in existence.
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