Boxe Française in Milan since 1869
or "History of a plagiarism"

The recent article published on the italian magazine “Samurai Banzai” has rouse both a great interest in WMA both many different questions.
For example the one on our supposition of plagiarism by Master Luigi Carmine on the text of Louis Leboucher, the first published in Milan on 1869 and the second in Paris 1844.
So we are here to finally demonstrate to the public our hypotesis that from many years is carry on by many historians like Sylvain Salvini, Arrigo Manusardi, his son Italo and his nephews Lorenzo.
This demonstration is the product of cooperation and collaboration among Sylvain, Italo and Lorenzo.
We can start our explaning with some historical news about manuals and their authors.
Louis Leboucher born in Rouen on 14 September 1807; he’s one of the best and most important teacher of the XIX sec. in France, in fact he published in 1843 his first tractise about Canne that is also the first in France; after he published his “Theorie de la Boxe Française et anglaise” (that from now we’ll call it L44) that it will be reprint in Bruxelles in 1845 (L45) with new drawings (and it will be reprint also in Paris with this drawings in 1853).
Really the “creator” of the Boxe Française seems could be linked to Charles Lecour that, student of Michel dit Pisseux, learned before the Savate and then the English Boxe and mixed themselves making in this way the Boxe Française; but the origins of all this are still confused and there’s not a book write by Lecour, so Leboucher become the most important and “inspirator” of future masters.
Devost, successor of Leboucher, print his treatise in 1882 (D82) imitating L44 including the drawings and adding only a little part at the end of the book about English box.
Luigi Carmine published his “Trattato di Boxe libera ossia difesa personale…”  (C69) in 1869 to Milan; this treatise is composed into five parts divided for topics and with 20 drawings at the end (in the original edition there’s the author’s portrait too).
It’s very important ‘cause is one of the firsts that explain something on the pugilism in Italy, also ‘cause in that time was in evolution and not universally present like today! And touch straight the self-defence, anticipating the current of Jiu-Jitsu that across XIX and XX will be very considered.
Now, after our research, we can assure that Carmine wrote a treatise of Boxe Française and Catch, that with stick fencing and Jiu-Jitsu was called after Lutte Parisienne (unfortunately both of this and Chausson nothing of wrote arrived to us, only in some novel or little indication in more recent treatise).

Now we can start our comparison with the drawings of both text that first has wake up suspection!
L44 contain 16 drawings, different from L45 that has 18 drawings ‘cause contain 2 new plates; in the first edition the characters wearing gloves and white shirt with dark trousers, in the second are wearing always different clothes but the positions are perfectly the same. For us drawings of L45 are better and more well-finished.
C69 contain 20 drawings (and a portrait) and characters doesn’t wearing gloves; but they wearing the same clothes of L44 and are very similar!
To a first observation they seems all the same but looking more we can see some differences; so, only 11 are identical but not in the same order; a curiosity: the coincidence wants that the only two  pair of plates with the same numbers (fig. 1 and fig. 1, fig. 14 and fig. 14) are a little different, could be a plague make at art??
Now you can see with yours eyes:

Leboucher 1844		Carmine 1869
Figura 1		Figura 1
Figura 3		Figura 9
Figura 6		Figura 10
Figura 8		Figura 7
Figura 9		Figura 3
Figura 10		Figura 8
Figura 5		Figura 2
Figura 12		Figura 11
Figura 13		Figura 4
Figura 14		Figura 14
Figura 16		Figura 5

How you can see resemblance is really extraordinary, only in the case of the two plates numbered with red numbers there's some differences!
We left to the reader any personal consideration, only a clarification that in C69 there are also 8 plates that we are studing and comparing with other authors (personal position of Sylvain Salvini is that this plates are taking from something of Leboucher, like students notes, 'cause he was a great connoisseur of catch and wrestling! he was one of the men that launch the great wrestler Arpin).
If comparing the drawings is spettacular, comparing the text sure isn't less!!
Is allowed ask ourself if for the text Luigi Carmine had done the same do for the plates: yes! he translate and rearranged, without to quotes the original author, text af all the chapters!!
But he's got the "merit" of in some case to summurize and to order in five differents parts: "della guardia e della marcia" (guard and movements), "dei colpi di pugno" (boxing), "dei colpi di gambe" (kicking), "del gambetto" (kick up, to trip), "della lotta complicata" (complicated catch (???)).
Here w can't write and compare all the chapters of both treatise but we only scan some pages for example and we hope that intersted reader will personally search for his personal curiosity.
We can start with first chapter about guard and movements (you will see how Leboucher is mare careful and exhaustive than Carmine):

Guardia Carmine
Guardia Leboucher
Marcia Carmine
Marcia Leboucher

How you can compare yourselves the similitude is really frightening; during summer we will put other pages of example, like the last about catch and self-defence that in some cases is similar and in other no; so you will can see if you are reading something of new or only text reading yet!
So we can say that the treatise of Luigi Carmine can be considered the first italian treatise about Savate defence or something of similar; could be the only treatise in XIX sec. about Lutte parisienne ?? maybe... But we have the proof that Savate is entering in Italy about 30 years before what we was thinking!! In fact the book was printed in 1869 in Milan! this can put in evidence that there was someone that knowed Savate not in Genova, so how long we have to believe that sailors men from Marsiglia teach to sailors of Genova at the end of 1800?
Now we have to found if was Carmine of one of his student that teach to people in Genova or if with the death of Carmine the italian Savate died and then revive with sailors in Genova.
It was a pity that Luigi Carmine don't say nothing about the teaching method in a note or under the title (like Devost with "method Leboucher"); could be predispose our italian savateurs differently and without subjection respect the frenches!!