Parade de quarte au dedans de l’Espee. Les Vrays principes de l’espée seule… par le Sr de La Touche. 1670. Note that the figure in the lunge is illustrated with a rolled ankle, a common practice at the time for gaining distance.

Monsieur de La Touche was a 17th Century French Master. He played in integral role in the process of standardizing fencing terms and in establishing a codified method of fencing instruction.  The plate above is from his 1670  Les Vrays principes de l’espée seule… par le Sr de La Touche [French].  Touche’s 1670 treatise is now available here on the SmallswordProject.com, as are a number of other historic texts in our Study section.