Author: [ACTON, Sir John Francis Edward & Antonius Count of THURN and Valsassina].
Title: Istruzione per il servizio de bastimenti della Real Marina di guerra.Naples, 1800. 8vo. With the engraved coat of arms of King Ferdinand IV of Naples on the title page. Contemporary gold-tooled "marbled" calf with tan and blue spots on a chemically darkened background.
Description: 86 pp.Only known copy of a manual with rules and regulations for maintenance of the ships of the Royal Marine at Naples, the handling of the equipment, the composition, the punishments, how to salute with the canons, the division of booty, etc., published during an interesting time of Naples's turbulent history when the English and Franco-Spanish fleets dominated the Mediterranean.A preface by Antonius Count of Thurn and Valsassina (1723-1806), Commander of the navy of Naples and Sicily, precedes extracts of the rules and regulations issued by the Count of Thurn himself and Sir John Francis Edward Acton (1736-1811), Prime Minister of Naples under King Ferdinand IV of Naples (also King of Sicily and later of the Two Sicilies) and friend of the English, especially of the famous ambassador Hamiltion at Naples and his wife Emma. The preface is dated Naples, 15 April 1800, and is directed to the commanders of the Italian navy.The manual was compiled as a supplement to a manual titled Istruzioni dirette agl'inglesi ... tradotte per sovrano comando, e corredate di annotazioni da Giannantonio de Torrebruna tenente colonnello al servizio di sua Maesta il Re delle Sicilie, published at Naples by the Stamperia Reale in 1798 (with an expanded edition in 1799). Fine copy of an unrecorded manual for the Naples Royal Marine.l No other copy located; cf. Diz. biogr. degli Italiani 1, pp. 206-210; P. Pieri, “La distruzione della flotta napolitana”, in: Studi di storia napoletana (1926), pp. 603, 611-613; S. Romiti, Le marine militari italiane nel Risorgimento (1748-1861) (1950), p. 49; not in ICCU; KVK; WorldCat.

Keywords: [7F0260752519] EUROPE|[7F0260752519] EUROPE -> [5C534DC5B117] France, Greece & Italy|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY -> [G8N93VI0LTSB] Naval History|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY -> [G8L098OUV1ZG] Ships & Shipbuilding|