Dresde, 1716.
Oblong folio [299 x 570 mm]. Handcolored manuscript with a handwritten title, an index of 8 pages and 140 battle plans and plans of the armed camps (out of 153) illustrating the most important European battles delivered over a period of almost a century. Each plan is inserted inside a frame in black ink. Lower margin of the title restored, few stains. Modern red half-morocco, untrimmed.
Precious manuscript album entirely contemporary handcolored of maps of battles and of the armed camps, illustrating most of the major European offensives from the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries.
These battles imply armies led by the king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, King William III of England, the Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Duke of Marlborough and many others, including Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia.
The album deals with the Thirty Years’ War, the Anglo-Dutch wars, the wars of the Holy Roman Empire and the war of Venice against the Ottoman Turks, the Spanish Succession War, etc.
For every map, the title gives place and date of the battle or the camp with the main protagonists.
Then come the names of the commanders, and generally his principal officers. The positions of the troops are indicated on a graphic way, with triangles and colors of their flags showing their allegiance, their nationality or type of troop.
The name of the commanders and the nationality of the troops are written under their symbol.
The Turkish army, victorious at the Battle of Saint Gotthard Abbey in Hungary in 1664, with 136 000 men in 32 divisions, every one classified with their ethnic group and the number of men.
Some maps also show fortifications and topography of the surrounding land, with the rivers, hills, trees,…
The compiler « F.M.P. » is described as being lieutenant in Dresden. The execution of these plans must have taken him many years and the title-page is dated 1716.
A very rare precious manuscript album of high historical interest, entirely contemporary handcolored, showing the development of major battles having taken place in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
