It’s my 45th, and it’s a little past my Patreon’s first. So let’s celebrate!
Linked in this post you’ll find the Prologue and the First Dialogue of Pacheco’s Compendio. Because of the generous support of my Patrons (who receive these releases three months early), I’ve had the time and space to read up on Aristotelian and Renaissance science to update some of the footnotes and text in these two files.
Here’s that Prologue!
Here’s that First Dialogue!
Now, on to some details.
What is Compendio?
The Compendio de la filosofia y destreza de las armas, de Jerónimo de Carranza, is Don Luis Pacheco‘s heavy (heavy!) edit of Carranza‘s Philosophy of Arms, considered to be the source of an Iberian fencing style called la verdadera destreza (LVD).
Pacheco deliberately notes in his prologue that he’s gone through Carranza’s text and omitted anything not directly related to fencing. For someone whose sentences are shockingly long and tortuous, he’s done a good job with his edits, given his stated goal.
How much has he taken out?
The Prologue is entirely Pacheco’s composition. He’s tossed 66% of Carranza’s original text from the First Dialogue.
And it still makes sense?
Surprisingly so. I’ve been cross-checking against the full text of Carranza’s Philosophy of Arms and have tracked down where his seams are, and where he’s put words in the mouths of characters who didn’t say them in the original. I have to assume the choices are deliberate, and it’ll be worth examining them more deeply to see what they reveal about Pacheco, his beliefs regarding LVD, and his prowess as an editor.
How many dialogues are there?
There are four. The first, third, and fourth are pretty science/argument heavy. The second, which is currently in progress, is lighter, and plays like a farce. It’d be fun to see it on stage. It’s also a very smart choice on Carranza’s part, I feel (see my previous blog post for more on that).
How long is this taking you?
About what I expected, maybe a little slower (which is always the case with editorial projects). I am hoping and aiming to get the whole of the text finished by around this time next year.
Finished? What does that mean?
It means completing the first pass translation of this text. I’ll then want to do a second pass, possibly a third. If I can, I’ll send it out for copy editing because it will be far too close to me for me to do that job well.
And what happens then?
With the Patreon? I’ll select a new text to work on. There are so many good ones to choose from.
With the Compendio translation? I’ll prep the reviewed and edited manuscript for print, so folks can grab proper hard copies. I’m thinking of ways to bind and lay out the translation to give folks space for notes, if they feel that’s a benefit. Regardless, the Patreon first-pass-translation PDFs will always be free.
When might we see that Compendio hard copy?
Anywhere between Christmas of 2022 or around this time in 2023, depending on how much other freelance I get, or if I take up a full time job, etc.
Once again, thank you to the HEMA community, the LVD community, and to my Patrons for all their support. LVD! In English! WOO!