Dose del Sig. Mauro Amadasi. Regola per far Raggi da Volo. Manuscript on paper in Italian, ca. 1750

280x190 mm. 54 numbered pages. Written in a single hand datable to the mid-18^th century and illustrated with several drawings of fireworks of various shapes and sizes. Unbound. Damp-stained and browned, final page soiled with small holes. Preserved in a modern leather slipcase.

A fascinating manuscript on pyrotechnics, probably written around the same time the work by G.A. Alberti (La Pirotechnia o sia trattato dei Fuochi d'Artificio) was published (Venice, 1749). It is presented as a practical manual written, probably for personal use, by a professional pyrotechnician.

The first part lists the specific doses of gunpowder and the different mixtures used to make rockets, pinwheels, fountains, blowpipes, and trumpets (“Raggi, Girandole, Rocchette, Fontane, Soffioni, Trombe). The next part details the “composition for loading water globes, which burn above and below the water,” the creation of flying fireworks, the different types of arquebus powder to be used, a whole series of “fuochi da acqua” (‘water fireworks') whose structure is depicted and construction detailed. Finally, on the last page, there is a spectacular “Comet Rocket designed but not tested,” which is in all respects a missile with a propulsion system at the base and on the side, probably conceived to make it rotate in the air. The manuscript's practical nature is demonstrated by the recurring comments in the margins of various fireworks, such as “Provato e riuscito a perfezione” (‘Tried and perfectly successful') and “Provato e riuscito et è un raggio bellissimo” (‘Tried and successful, and it is a beautiful rocket').

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