ANDERSON, Aeneas Lieut. – A JOURNAL OF THE FORCES

Description

ANDERSON, Aeneas Lieut. (active c. 1802) A very interesting book in English.

6 Malta views and a large harbour map of Malta.

Title: A JOURNAL OF THE FORCES / WHICH SAILED FROM THE DOWNS, IN APRIL 1800, / ON A SECRET EXPEDITION UNDER THE COMMAND OF LIEUT.-GEN. PIGOT

There are a lot of views in this book yet 6 of which depict Malta harbours :

Title of  Views:

View 1 : A View of the City of Valette with part of the Grand Harbour.

View 2 : A View of Fort Ricasoli the City of Vallette and part of Gregale

View 3 : A View of Ricasoli, the Castle of St. Angelo, Bur Mola and the Point of Isola.

View 4 : A View of Fort Manuel and the Port of Marsamuscet with Fort Tigne

View 5 : A View of the fortifications, and the entrance to Vallette from the Floriana side.

View 6 : A View of Vallette and the Fortifications on the Marsamuscet side of the City from the Point of St. Elmo.

Size : views – 330 x 230mm

Title of Map: AN ACCURATE PLAN / of the / HARBOUR OF MALTA. / with its Towns and Fortifications; / Comprehending the Cities of / LA VALLETTA, VITTORIOSA, BORMULA, / with the / COTTONERA & SINGLEA, & C.

Size : 550 x 450mm

Description: At Margate on 28 March 1800 two battalions of the 40th regiment, having been ordered on a secret expedition, embarked on board four troopships. They sailed for the Downs where they were joined by four other battalions from the 17th and 35th regiments. Escorted by a battle squadron they proceeded to Minorca. Aeneas Anderson had become a Lieutenant in the 40th (or the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot on 23 September 1799.

This was a propitious appointment as he left a highly detailed account of the expedition, with a special emphasis on Malta. Anderson dedicated the book to The Right Hon. Earl Craven who commanded [p.171] one of the battalions of the 40th Regiment. On Saturday, 15 November 1800, in the evening, the Romulus entered the Grand Harbour. It was only on the 20th December that the Army left Malta for Egypt. During the passage of the fleet to Marmorice Bay, on the coast of Caramania in Turkey, Anderson availed himself of his spare time to write a lengthy account of Malta, which was published on pages 100 to 184 and 461 to 523 of the book. His account was accompanied with illustrations which Anderson had drawn during his Maltese sojourn. It consists of 532 pages.

Book in very good condition with some occasional staining – otherwise a complete and very well illustrated read.