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4°, disbound. Maltese cross on title page. Five-line woodcut initial on p. 3. Overall in good to very good condition. 8 pp. *** First Edition in Portuguese. In the name of Maria Theresa, Johann Daniel, Baron of Mentzel, commander of a regiment of hussars and musketeers, announces that the queen in her clemency has decreed there will be no reprisals upon inhabitants of territories the French have just been driven out of: Alsace, Burgundy, Franche-Comte, Lorraine, and the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. The decree ends with the warning that if any inhabitants pick up arms, they will be punished with fire and sword, and will have their noses and ears chopped off.Johann Daniel von Menzel (b. 1698) was a favorite of Maria Theresa of Austria, traveling for her twice to visit Nader Shah of Persia. He is said to have accumulated 3 million florins while commanding one of the partisan armies that nominally worked for Maria Theresa, but in fact killed and plundered almost indiscriminately. He died in 1744 following a drunken party, after having dared the French to shoot at him. (They did.)The War of the Austrian Succession began in 1740, with the death of Emperor Charles VI. It included several small conflicts: the War of Jenkins' Ear (which began in 1739), King George's War in North America (1744-1748), and two Silesian wars, finally ending in 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which mostly returned territories to the status quo ante.The translator (1670-1760?), a native of Lisbon, began his studies in Portugal and extended them for 10 years, beginning in 1693, by traveling throughout Europe to study its politics and languages. Back in Portugal, he served from 1704 to 1710 as a cavalry captain in the War of the Spanish Succession. When the war ended he began to publish the Gazeta de Lisboa, of which he remained editor for more than 40 years. He also published numerous pamphlets such as this one, on current events.*** Innocêncio IV, 350. Gonçalves Rodrigues, A Tradução em Portugal 751. Coimbra, Miscelâneas 669. On Mentzel, see Eduard Vehse, Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria, II, 152-3. Porbase locates four copies, all at the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal. Not located in Jisc. Seller Inventory # 21528
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