A good, clean copy of the first edition of this scarce, beautifully illustrated work on military history. It is a detailed survey of the ongoing war for the Austrian Succession (1740-8), ‘of great Use to all who are willing to have a clear idea of the Operations of the several Armies’. The first part, by an anonymous ‘Officer of the Allied Army now in Flanders’, comprises a geographical survey and a military history of the Austrian and French Netherlands, prefaced by a short history of the Low Countries. The second part, similarly anonymous, is a brief account of the topography and history of Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia and Austria, and an account of the ‘Pragmatic Sanction’ which started the war against Germany. At rear is a military dictionary, as well as a page of instructions to the binder. In addition to three detailed maps of Flanders, Germany and northern Italy, it features an engraved plate with beautifully delineated samples of fortifications and gunnery. The work is dedicated to Field Marshal George Wade (1673-1748), who served in all the major European wars from the late 1680s to the mid-18th century. He was also ‘Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces, castles, forts and barracks in North Britain’, by which he oversaw the construction of hundreds of miles of military roads and 30 military bridges in Scotland.
Capt. Thomas Drake Tyrwhitt (1749-1810), MP for Amersham (1795-1810) and Sheriff of Glamorganshire (1786-7).