THE GENOVESE KNIFE
A HISTORY OF KNIVES, PROHIBITED WEAPONS AND THE CARUGGI GENOVESE ALLEWAYS
by Andrea Buti

The book, in a limited edition of 800 copies, 24x25 cm size and with a hard cover binding, consists of a 148 page text and an appendix of 263 pages. The first contains 136 drawings and colour photos with 21 full-page plates whilst the appendix includes a glossary of terms, the antique length measurements, the bibliography and 204 colour cards of knives described and photographed in full and in detail.

The history of the Genoese knife is traced - a damnable and dangerous weapon on a par with a dagger and other edged weapons (Venice, 9th September 1699) - and is a totally new aspect of Genovese history to be considered. Already by the thirteenth century "the Art of the Knife-makers" was a real manufacturing industry of proven quality as well as being a source of profitable commerce. The knife, that has always been the "sword of the people", is also the first actor in bloody events, trials and very strict laws that have marked the daily life of this city and the territory of the Republic.

There is a close examination of the law and the legal proceedings not only in the records in the State Archives of Liguria, but also extending to the rest of Italy, during the period of the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and other kinds of prohibited weapons are also looked at.

Edited by
San Giorgio Aste, Genoa