Arab Archery (Martino Fine Books)

2016 Reprint of the 1945 edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. When it was first published, this was the first work on the subject from the medieval Arab world that had been made available in English. The original manuscript which formed the basis for this translation is contemporary with Ascham's "Toxophilus", which is considered the only source of detailed knowledge of English archery. The Arabic manuscript is thorough and authoritative, evidently the work of an expert bowman. A vast amount of information concerning the long-range artillery, by which one eastern empire after another had been won, is here brought forward into full light after having laid hidden for centuries. It can still serve as a textbook on archery to this day.