[SPANISH SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, 1727.]

A map of the coast of Spain, from the Streights of Gibralter, to the Gulf of Cartagena. [and] A new plan of the garrison of Gibralter, with its fortifications &c. 1726.

London, sold by H. Overton & I. Hoole, [circa 1727]. 470 x 590 mm, two engraved plans on one leaf; old folds, a little worn. These two plans of Gibraltar were issued contemporaneously with the five-month Spanish siege of the British garrison there. Spanish forces, commanded by the Marquis de la Torre and the celebrated Spanish military engineer and founder of the Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros, Jorge Próspero de Verdoom, opened their attack on 11 February 1727. It was one of many attempts to regain the key strategic location of Gibraltar following its loss to the British at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The British garrison, however, supported by a naval squadron commanded by Sir Charles Wager, First Lord of the Admiralty between 1733 and 1742, successfully resisted the attack and Spanish forces were forced to retire. Gibraltar, by allowing Britain to maintain a naval presence in the Mediterranean, was considered of great strategic importance in England and engraved plans, such as this, helped feed the public imagination as to its significance.This plate, engraved by S. Parker, is in its first recorded state, with the blank inset frame at the bottom right (a map of Minorca is engraved here in the second state).COPAC records only one example, in the British Library (second state).

• GBP 1,750.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: T2909

• bookseller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)