The International Institute for Baroque Studies at the University of Malta and Malta Libraries are launching a new publication entitled Lines of Defence – Fortification Drawings of the Baroque Age at the National Library of Malta.

This large-format, full-colour publication brings together in one beautifully produced volume the collection of fortification plans of the Knights of the Order of St John, housed in the National Library of Malta in Valletta.

The text of this publication is by Denis De Lucca, the institute’s director, Stephen Spiteri and Hermann Bonnici. The book has an introduction by university rector Juanito Camilleri and forewords by Oliver Mamo and Maroma Camilleri from Malta Libraries.

This collection of drawings is the largest and most important collection of architectural plans of Hospitaller fortifications in the Maltese islands to have come down to us from this period of the islands’ history.

The importance of these plans also emanates from the fact that the fortifications of the Knights of St John rank among some of the most important works of military architecture built to the conventions of the bastioned trace anywhere in the world.

This new book is the product of a direct collaborative effort between the institute and the National Library of Malta.