98 - [Italy]. [18th-Century Italian Military Manuscript].

[Italy]. [18th-Century Italian Military Manuscript]. [Maneuver diagrams from the War of the Austrian Succession]. (ca. 1740–1750). Square folio, 62 large hand-drawn maps, mostly on heavy laid paper and mounted on tabs, some of which are fold-out. Stiff, sewn vellum binding of the period, likely of Italian manufacture, unmarked spine, endpapers of the period in marbled paper, speckled edges (2 marbled endpapers missing; soiling and wear on the vellum, including small losses at the corners and headbands, foxing spots mainly along the edges, a brown stain a few centimeters in size has scorched the paper on the last 6 folios, a small marginal wormhole with no loss of text). A superb 18th-century Italian military manuscript. A series of military maneuver diagrams, finely rendered in ink and watercolor, relating to the War of the Austrian Succession, which lasted from 1740 to 1748 and involved several nations and kingdoms, resulting in the movement of armies across Europe. Contains 62 large hand-drawn operational plans, including 2 panoramic fold-outs. Each drawing is framed by a title at the bottom, sometimes with a cartouche painted in gray wash. A descriptive and explanatory text accompanies each maneuver, and the plans are numbered. Field sketches made on the spot. Provenance: Ex-libris bearing the coat of arms of Jacobi Josephi Comitis de Mahony, engraved by Cepparali on an endpaper. Ex libris featuring a crowned monogram and library label with the motto “Laus Deo,” from the Biblioteca Giustiniani Bandini: refers to the library and historical archives of the princely and ducal Giustiniani Bandini family. A number of these volumes belonged to Carlo Giustiniani Bandini (1862–1941), the 8th duke of the line. The Giustiniani Bandini family descended from the great Genoese patrician family (the Giustiniani) and from the nobility of the Marche region (the Bandini) and were Dukes of Mondragone and Princes of Camerino. The list does not appear to be exhaustive, as there are gaps in the numbering.