Lines of Defence - Fortification drawings of the baroque age at the National Library of Malta

The collection of fortifications plans of the Knights of the Order of St John in the National Library of Malta is the largest and most important collection of architectural plans of Hospitaller fortifications to have survived from this period of the Island's history. The importance of these plans, in turn, emanates from the fact that the fortifications of the Knights of St John in the Maltese Islands rank amongst some of the most important works of military architecture in the world. Although frequently consulted by scholars and students over the years, this collection has never been brought together in one extensive compendium in the manner that it deserves as a prime source of original information on eighteenth-century

Hospitaller military architecture. The International Institute for Baroque Studies of the University of Malta has long been convinced of the significance and importance of this collection and has worked hard over the past years to publish these plans in one prestigious publication. This new book is the product of a direct collaborative effort between the Institute and the National Library of Malta.