English: Title: Plan of the Harbours and Fortifications of Valetta In the Island of Malta By Captain W. H. Smith, R.N. Knight of St. Ferdinand and Merit.

Publication Place / Date: London / 1823
Image Dimensions: 26 x 19.5 inches
Color: Hand Colored

Fine large plan of Valetta with several profile views, published by the British Admiralty. Includes a detailed plan of the city, with inset views of the city, the Castle of San Angelo and the Castle and Lighthouse of San Elmo.

In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic War, Lieutenant William Henry Smyth was posted to Sicily. Smyth used Sicily as his base of operations, in order to survey the coasts of Italy and Africa, and neighboring Islands. In all, 32 charts and views were published by the Admiralty, which remained the core hydrography of the central Mediterranean until the end of the century. He published his own account, Memoir descriptive of the resources, inhabitants, and hydrography of Sicily and its islands..., in 1824.