AMERICAlir AND EUROPEAN SWOEDS 11 



establishment the plant that had formerly been conducted in Phila- 

 delphia by a German sword maker and armorer named Widtmann. 

 Horstmann died in 1850, and the business was continued by his 

 two sons.* 



The commercial inscriptions on a sword indicate the maker of the 

 blade, the maker of the sword, and the seller of the piece thus in- 

 scribed. The inscriptions relating to the makers of swords and 

 blades are usually incised in the blade. They are referred to in the 

 text as " marked." Inscriptions relating merely to the seller of the 

 piece usually appear as a part of the decorations on the blade and 

 these are referred to in the text as " inscribed." In many cases, of 

 course, swords bear inscriptions relating to firms that were con- 

 nected with the industry of sword making in merely the most casual 

 manner. In others, however, these inscriptions refer to firms that 

 while not actual manufacturers of swords were so closely identified 

 with the distribution of such weapons as to render the preservation 

 of the records of this type a matter of historical importance. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN' NAVAL SWORD 



The development of the American naval sword was much less 

 complicated than that of the military sword, which has just been 

 sketched. The National Museum collection contains only three 

 distinct types of naval officers' swords made prior to about 1850, 

 when a standard design was adopted that is still in use. The cut- 

 lasses used by the enlisted men of the navy include weapons of only 

 three distinct designs. The design of the Marine Corps sword has 

 undergone very little change since the establishment of that corps. 

 Thus the history of the naval sword is far less varied than that 

 of the military sword, and its representation of naval history is 

 less complete than that of military history by military swords. 

 Subsequent to 1850 the regulation naval sword loses intrinsic 

 artistic interest, and the achievements of its owner must form 

 the essential basis of any treatment of its history. The naval pre- 

 sentation sword, however, combines intrinsic and historical interest 

 during the entire period of the nineteenth century. The National 

 Museum collection includes many swords of this type of exceptional 

 importance. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN SWORD 



During the long period of its use the European sword has passed 

 through three distinct stages of development. The weapons of this 

 type used in Europe during the Middle Ages possessed but little 



* See " One Hundred Years, 1816-1916," published by the William H. Horstmann Co., 

 1916. 



