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Denon, Vivant., Aikin, Arthur (trans.).
Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt, in Company with Several Divisions of the French Army, during the Campaigns of General Bonaparte in that Country.
Publisher: T.N. Longman and O. Rees, Paternoster-Row; and Richard Phillips, 71, St. Paul’s Church Yard; London;
Date of Publication: 1803
Stock Code: 14086
Two volumes. Large Post Quarto, pp., 1: viii, 343, [1]. Complete with 28 plates (5 folding, and one unopened); 2: vii, [1], 320, [2] blanks, plus 33 plates (9 folding), as called for. Uniformly bound in contemporary diced Russia, floral ornamentation in gilt within Etruscan border, rules in gilt to board-edges, floral rolls in gilt to turn-ins, titled and ornamented in blind and gilt to spines within compartments, all edges marbled, turquoise blue end-papers. Bookplate of one John Harris to front paste-downs.
Corners and edges rubbed, light scuffs and shelf-wear to boards, joints worn, and upper joint of vol 2 cracked but holding well, spine and board edges sunned. Some minor offsetting from some plates, occasional scattered foxing, one plate in vol 2 proud and a little worn to margin. Overall, a very good copy. A handsome set of this important study on Egypt with maps and views, and plates depicting ruins, relics, art, manuscripts, and ancient dress. Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (1747 – 1825) was a diplomat, artist, engraver and archaeologist who travelled to Egypt in 1798/9 with Napoleon (to whom this book is dedicated) as part of the arts and literature section of his Institut d'Égypte. As one of Napoleon’s ‘savants’ Denon’s training as an archaeologist and his artistic eye for detail combined to produce one of the best known works of the ‘Description de l'Égypte’. The book was a huge success and for a time was regarded as the most authoritative work on ancient Egypt. In the year of the publication of this work Denon was appointed first director of the Louvre. A fascinating work of early Egyptology that was credited as creating the Egyptian Revival in architecture. £1500.00