McARTHUR, John.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Army and Navy Gentleman's Companion, or a New and Complete Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Fencing; Second edition, extensively revised from the first of 1780. This handsome copy is unusual in having the fine, lively plates hand coloured. McArthur (1756-1840) was a skilled swordsman and served with distinction on the North American station and during the Revolution. The subscribers list includes many British officers from the army, navy, and marines, and a number of American individuals."McArthur had studied under several masters, but principally under [Jean] Olivier, of whom he had a high opinion, though he does criticise his master's treatise as 'not so methodically arranged, nor so explicit, as a learner could wish'. With this in mind, he set himself to make a digest of what he had been taught, arranging it in a series of lessons planned so that two novices might give them to each other when no professional teacher was available, and interspersing them with chapters dealing with possible variations on the basic themes … [His book] must have supplied a want, for it went to three editions … [The plates are] after drawings by the amazing young author himself, who, at the age of twenty-three, was able not only to produce a creditable manual, but to illustrate it with plates deserving high praise" (Aylward, pp. 204-06).In 1782, while in American waters, the enterprising McArthur prepared a revised signal book and in 1805 published what became a standard work on naval

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