For students of Japanese history, culture and art, the study of these ancient manuscripts expands the appreciation of the sword in traditional Japanese society. For the student of the samurai, these manuscripts give a window into the icons that they treasured and helped shape their values. In this work Dr. Buck presents 81 digitally restored early to mid-nineteenth century manuscripts that cataloged both drawings and measurements of historically significant Japanese swords from the Ancient Period (before 794) to mid-Edo Period (until the 1780s). Beginning with an overview of of the evolution of Japanese samurai swords, this work also contains translations, descriptions and information about the then current locations of the listed swords and their previous owners. The book ends with a comprehensive glossary of sword terms and definitions. This book contains a collection of 81 digitally restored black-and-white hand-drawn illustrations, dating from 1810 to 1849, of famous ancient Japanese swords and fittings. These originals were heavily damaged through a combination of age, neglect, regular wear and tear, and bookworms. The preservation and restoration of these manuscripts was done in a two step process, first the original was stabilized to avoid any further wear, then it was digitized, cleaned, and restored. During this procedure, when possible, I took the titles and text from the manuscripts and translated them into English. Although the text on the manuscripts includes measurements of the items displayed, my translations focus primarily on the sword descriptions and the names of their then current owners and/or locations. To read the measurements and other text not translated, I included a quick reference guide, measurement translation instructions, a listing of the most commonly used characters, and a conversion table with both Japanese Shaku, Metric and English measurement systems. Dr. Thomas Buck has been collecting and studying the Japanese Art Sword for over thirty years, acquiring his first Samurai Sword in October, 1975. In 1987, with the guidance of Dr. W. Y. Takahashi, Sensei, he began a three year intensive study/apprenticeship of the restoration and preservation techniques of John Grimmitt and Takahiro Ichinose, concentrating his research on Tsukamaki and Japanese Lacquer-ware. Since 1988, he has been performing restoration and research work on tsuka for various institutions, private collectors, and dealers.