Archers d'Autrefois: Archers d'Aujourd'hui by Henri SteinThe American Historical Review, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Jul., 1926), pp. 753-754Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1840068 .

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REVIEWS OF BOOKS

GENERAL BOOKS AND BOOKS OF ANCIENT HISTORY

Archers d'Autrefois: Archers d'Aujourd'hui. Par HENRI STEIN. (Paris: D. A. Longuet. I925. PP. 305. I20 fr.) THE aim of this attractively printed and beautifully illustrated work

is, as the author states, to give an account at once comprehensive, ac- curate, and adapted for general reading, of archery and archers from the earliest times up to the present. How comprehensive this study is may be seen from a brief summary of its contents. Chapter I. discusses the bow in mythology, as reflecting the importance of archery in the life of primitive peoples. Greek, Hindu, and Germanic mythology furnish the examples. Chapter II. traces the use of the bow among prehistoric peoples and those of historic antiquity, from neolithic to Byzantine times. Here onle would like to see a reference to Herodotus's statement (I. I36) of the ideal of the Persian nobles: "to ride, to shoot, and to speak the truth ". On page 40 the enumeration of the Athenian archers, based on Thucydides (II. I3), should be more explicit. The I200 Athenian cav- alry included 200 mounted archers, and the i6oo foot-archers included I200 Scythians. Mention of the number of triremes is superfluous with- out some information regarding the number of bowmen serving on each (among the ten marines?). In fact, this whole topic of the number of archers in Athens at the opening of the Peloponnesian War should fol- low, and not precede, the opening paragraph on page 4I which mentions changes introduced after the Persian Wars. On page 42, the phrase " a la fin du III' siecle ou au debut du IV' " should read " ou au debut du II inel, since the dates are B.C. The note on this point should cite the inscriptional evidence for the institution of the contests in archery men- tioned in the text.

The third chapter treats in considerable detail the use of the bow in the Middle Ages, particularly among the Normans, the French, and English, with a good discussion of the influence of the success of the English archers upon the development of this arm of the service in the armies on the Continent. Chapter IV. deals with the " free " archers, tracing their organization (I448) in France from the communal fra- ternities under royal ordinance, their exemptions from the salt tax and other obligations, which gave them their name of " free ", and their his- tory until their dissolution (I535). Chapter V. considers the bow as a weapon of the chase, while chapter VI. contains a very interesting ac- count of the rise of the brotherhoods or gilds of archers in the towns of France and Flanders and of their organization arid fortunes until their suppression in France in I790. Chapter VII. describes the various com-

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754 Reviews of Books

petitions of skill among archers of ancient, medieval, and modern times. It will surprise many to read of the numerous associations of archers which flourish in France to-day, of which a great number are revivals of organizations which were in existence prior to I790, and which to a certain extent perpetuate the traditions and ideals of these older fra- ternities.

In chapter VIII. we have a disquisition upon the bow among the savage peoples all over the world, in Asia, Indonesia, Africa, and Amer- ica, with a description of the types of bows, arrows, and poisons for arrows in use in the various regions. The concluding chapter (IX.) has to do with the archer as represented in art among peoples of all ages. The frequency with which the martyrdom of St. Sebastian occurs in medieval art is due to his being the patron saint of archers. In the ap- pendixes the author has reprinted a selection of interesting and not easily accessible documents dealing with archery in France from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. Perhaps the most interesting among these is the treatise entitled L'Art d'Archerie, written about I5Io. There are numerous notes on each chapter which reveal the author's wide ac- quaintance with the literature of his subject. Naturally, M. Stein has placed most emphasis upon conditions prevailing in France, but, in spite of that, his work is a very useful contribution to general Kulturgeschichte.

The Mummnty, a Handbook of Egyptian Funerary Archaeology. By Sir E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, Kt., D.Litt., F.S.A. Second Edition. (Cambridge: University Press. 1925. PP. xiv, 5I3. 45 S.) THIS second edition of Sir Wallis Budge's important book is so

well written and so admirably subdivided into chapters of non-technical description that it can be read with ease. The interest which naturally pertains to the subject is whetted by the charming method of its presenta- tion. Whether one approach the volume as a student of Egyptian life and custom, as a Biblical scholar, or as a layman to whose mind there is a strong appeal by the romance of this nursery of civilization of which the walls are scribbled all over with the thoughts and aspirations of the past, the book proves fascinating reading. It is impossible, for example, to grasp the significance of Ezekiel xxix without some knowledge of Egyptian funerary ceremonies of which the passage is redolent. What appeals most to the reviewer is the sturdy determination of the author to avoid being drawn into a maelstrom of imagination and working hypotheses to which the study of ancient Egyptian life so readily lends itself. One feels confidence everywhere in the definiteness of the text, so straightforward and yet so devoid of any suspicion of dogmatism. In- deed one might be rather disappointed in the author's determination to avoid subjects which lend themselves to imaginative treatment. I find no treatment of subjects like the Ka standard and but scattered scanty refer- ence to the permanence and diffusion of customs. But this makes the positive statements of the author all the more impressive.

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