Engineering.- Ship salvage.- Zusto (Giovanni) Descrizione istorica dell'estrazione della pubblica nave la Fenice dal canale Spignon, first edition, initial blank f., fine engraved frontispiece by Giuseppe Daniotto and 7 large folding plates by Giuseppe Daniotto after Giuseppe Cason, errata f., water-stained, final plate with a few purple spots, occasional light spotting elsewhere, contemporary marbled limp boards, spine and corners little worn, but holding firm, rubbed, [Ricardi I, 407 'opera interessantissima per gli studiosi della meccanica applicata alla nautica'; Morazzoni, 263; Cicognara, 1485; Phillips p.651], 4to, Venice, Sons of Antonio Pinelli, 1789.

⁂ 'the most beautiful of all books on ship salvage and the first record of the salvage of such a large vessel' (Nigel Phillips, Diving and underwater technology). In 1783 the man-of-war La Fenice sank in the narrow Spignon channel at the entrance of the Venetian lagoon, making it difficult for other large vessels to pass. In 1785 it was decided to raise her. This handsomely illustrated work describes that feat of engineering.