Austrian war ships in the Middle East
La Marina Austriaca in Oriente. Cenni Storici del 1840.
8vo. 67, (1) pp. Publisher's printed wrappers.
€ 1.500,00
First edition. Very rare work about one of the first military operations carried out by the Austrian Navy: a mission to the Syrian coast, where they assisted British ships during the Oriental Crisis of 1840, shelling the ports of Sidon, Acre, and Beirut, and helping the Ottoman Empire force back Mehmet Ali, the Viceroy of Egypt.
Vimercati served as artilleryman on board the Austrian frigate "La Guerriera". A German translation ("Die kaiserl. königl. österreichische Marine im Oriente. Geschichtlicher Rückblick auf das Jahr 1840") appeared in 1845.
Wrapper edges very slightly frayed. Light foxing, but an untrimmed, wide-margined copy.
Combi, Saggio di bibliografia Istriana (1864), no. 2242. OCLC 23494514. Not in Kalemkiar or in Kat. der k. k. Kriegsbibliothek.