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Vivant Denon drew this image of the Sphinx of Giza around
1798, prior to its defacement. This image and written account (a part of
the collection) is from the 1803 issue of Universal Magazine. From that
same magazine, here is the written account in Denon's own words, "...Though
its proportions are colossal, the outline is pure and graceful; the
expression of the head is mild, gracious, and tranquil; the character
is African, but the mouth, and lips of which are thick, has a softness
and delicacy of execution truly admirable; it seems real life and flesh.
Art must have been at a high pitch when this monument was executed; for,
if the head wants what is called style, that is the say, the straight and
bold lines which give expression to the figures under which the Greeks
have designated their deities, yet sufficient justice has been rendered to
the fine simplicity and character of nature which is displayed in this
figure..." --
order postcard
of Sphinx of Giza
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Courtesy of
The Freeman
Institute
Book Dr. Freeman
for your next
Black History or
Diversity
Event
To go back to the main Black
History Collection page
"se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yennki"
(translation below)
"There is nothing wrong with going back to
fetch what one has forgotten." -- Ashanti
saying
|
This Collection is owned by
The Freeman Institute. (Founder of The Freeman Institute
Foundation) and is not
for sale.
It will soon be used as a part of his plans to open Black History
galleries
in American
communities and selected cities internationally. The goal is to
educate and
inspire young people with the "C. P. A. Concept".
Capturing
Hearts & Minds through the
inspiration received from and knowledge contained in
Return To Glory resources (film, book, etc.). A combined strategic focus
on this step, will allow RTG to be even more deliberate in
achieving its goal of changing the distorted image of Black
people by starting from their ancient beginnings instead of
the traditional starting points of slavery, colonization or
apartheid.
Proving the Point
with documents and
artifacts.
Phase One has been completed by the development of
The Freeman Institute Black History Collection of 3,000+ documents &
artifacts -- with many already being exhibited
online. The following, more comprehensive Phases will be implemented once
a few Black History Gallery sites are located and additional finances are
secured. Verification of the history will be
established through collections and exhibitions of genuine historical
documents and artifacts from the respective nation in which the Foundation has a
presence.
Affecting Change
&
Future Life Goals is realized through
partnerships with national and community-based service
organizations with missions to impact behavior and alter
life outcomes. The Foundation's desire is to assist by
providing resources to help facilitate the kind of lasting change that
will help individuals realize their true potential, regardless of race,
gender or generation. Any ideas?
email (cell: 410-991-9718)
-- CPA concept was developed by Patricia Ware |
If you have any relevant
historic documents, artifacts, old books or photos to donate, please
email a description of the piece and your contact information. All
donations of historical artifacts, documents, photos or books are used for
educational purposes and public display only. Donors will receive a letter
of acknowledgement from the Freeman Institute Foundation and will be
recognized for their contribution through the listing of the item when on
display.
Own a full-size, 3-D
replica of the Rosetta Stone.

|
black
history, African American, black heritage, black history
month, egypt, pyramids, rosetta stone, frederick douglass,
george washington carver, booker t. washington, slave ship,
abolition, british slave trade, phillis wheatley |
- An Ever-Expanding Black History Collection -
BlackHeritageTreasures.com
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________________________________________________
No images on this page may be
used without
permission.
© 2006-NOW
Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D. |
black history,
African American, black heritage, black history month, egypt,
pyramids, rosetta stone, frederick douglass, george washington carver,
booker t. washington, slave ship, abolition, british slave trade,
phillis wheatley
|
1. A
First Edition 55-page article entitled,
"The Rosetta
Stone"
in Archaeologia: Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to
Antiquity, Volume XVI, published by The Society of
Antiquaries of London. 1812. Some of the first published
articles about the Rosetta Stone. This is historic in light
of the fact that the code to Hieroglyphics wasn't cracked
until 1822 by Jean Champollion.
-- One and a half pages of the Gentleman's Magazine
(August, 1802) stating, "...a treble inscription
brought up from Rosetta, in Egypt, where it was dug up
by the French, and, with other antique fragments, made by
capitulation the property of the British nation. Copies had
been previously taken of it by its former possessors, who,
with their accustomed vivacity, have attempted to illustrate
it..." (This was written a full 20 years before the code
to Hieroglyphics was cracked by Champollion.) |

"Viewing the Rosetta Stone", 1874
London Illustrated engraving |
2. An original "Elephant-size" folio Victorian print
(circa 1895) of the Rosetta Stone. Measures 21x14" on heavyweight
paper.
-- An original "Elephant-size" folio Victorian print
(circa 1895) of a gentleman viewing the Rosetta Stone in the British
Museum. Measures 21x14" on heavyweight paper.
-- An 1815 engraving of the British Museum (its original,
smaller site).
-- An original "Elephant-size" folio Victorian print
(circa 1895) of the Rosetta Stone. Measures 21x14" on heavyweight
paper.
-- An original "Elephant-size" folio Victorian print
(circa 1895) of a gentleman viewing the Rosetta Stone in the British
Museum. Measures 21x14" on heavyweight paper.
-- An 1815 engraving of the British Museum (its original,
smaller site).

"Capture of Rosetta" |
3. A genuine issue of the January 7th, 1799 Connecticut
Courant, detailing the "Landing of Buonaparte's army
in Egypt" and its progress in Cairo. Fascinating
content.
-- Authentic issue of the Salem Gazette (Dec.
7, 1798), containing a literal translation of General
Napoleon Buonaparte's proclamation to the Arabs in Lower
Egypt. Intriguing content.
<-- July 14, 1801 issue of the New England Palladium
describing the capture of Rosetta, Egypt by British
troops. The report comes from Major General J. H.
Hutchinson. "It is with great pleasure that I am to
inform you of the success of a corps of Turks and British
under the command of Col. Spencer. They were ordered from
hence about ten days ago, for the purpose of forcing the enemy from the
town and castle of Rosetta, which commands the navigation of the
Nile...
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One of just 12-15 full-size
facsimiles of the famed Rosetta
Stone ever manufactured by
the British Museum. Very rare. |
...We are now masters of the western branch of that
river, and of course have opened a communication with the Delta, from
which we shall derive the necessary supplies, as the French have
scarcely any troops there, and none capable of making a serious
resistance. The enemy had
about 800 men at Rosetta when they were attacked. They made but a
feeble effort to sustain themselves, and retired to the right bank of
the Nile, leaving a few men and prisoners. They left a garrison at the
fort, against which our batteries opened on the 16th infantry and it
surrendered on the 19th infantry. The condition of the same as were
granted to the castle of the Aboukir..."
-- In August 1799, just over a year after Napoleon launched his
invasion of Egypt at Alexandria, a great discovery was made. Under the
leadership of Lt. Pierre Bouchard, French soldiers were
building up their defenses around the area of Fort St. Julian,
near the northern city of Rosetta, when a soldier or engineer
found in the ruins an ancient stone. With its cryptic inscriptions, it
was immediately recognized as an object of great importance. It was
sent to Cairo, where it was housed in the Institute d’Egypte. Members
of Napoleon’s special civilian corps dispersed around the country were
requested to go there at once. The rare map to the right is of the
mouth of the Nile, picturing Fort Julian, now known as Fort Rashid --> |

Map of Rosetta region at the
mouth
of the Nile, with Fort Julian
on the West Bank of the river. |
-- Description de
l'Egypte, Rosetta Environs. Folio Sheet size: 55cm x 72cm. It
has the Napoleonic "Sphinx" cartouche it the upper corner of the sheet.
Not a reproduction or re-strike of any kind. This print was purchased
nearly 40 years ago in Cairo. From: Description de l'Egypte ou
recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont ete faites en Egypte
pendant l'Expedition de l'Armee francaise. Dediee au Roi. France:
Commission des sciences et arts d'Egypte. The completed work fills
twenty-three volumes and contains engravings depicting 3,000 individual
images. Description de L'Egypte documents many aspects of Egypt's
history and culture and has sections devoted to antiquities, the modern
state, and natural history. An atlas supplements the text. Description
de L'Egypte was intended for an academic audience, and many copies of
the first edition were distributed directly to institutions. However, it
was clear even before the original production was complete that the
title had a much broader appeal. The descriptions of Egyptian
antiquities and religious monuments satisfied a curiosity about ancient
cultures, religion, and mythology that had been sparked by the Romantic
movement.
-- A Bit of History About
the Rosetta Stone: Some scientists accompanied Napoleon's French
campaign in Egypt (1798-1801). After Napoleon Bonaparte founded the
Institut de l'Egypte in Cairo in 1798 some 50 became members of it.
On July 15th, 1799, just over a year after Napoleon launched his
invasion of Egypt at Alexandria, a great discovery was made. Under the
command of Lt. Pierre-François Bouchard (1772-1832), French soldiers
were building up their defenses around the area of Fort St. Julian,
near the northern city of Rosetta, when a soldier or engineer
found in the ruins an ancient stone. With its cryptic inscriptions,
Bouchard immediately understood the importance of the stone and showed
it to general Abdallah Jacques de Menou. It was immediately
recognized as an object of great importance. It was sent to Cairo,
where it was housed in the Institute d’Egypte. Members of
Napoleon’s special civilian corps dispersed around the country were
requested to go there at once. In 1801 the French had to surrender. A
dispute arose about the results of the scientists - the French wishing
to keep them, while the British considered them forfeit, in the name of
King George III. In September 1801 English brevet Colonel Tomkyns
Hilgrove Turner, who had fought at Aboukir Bay and
Alexandria, went to visit Menou to procure the stone. Meanwhile the French
scientist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, writing to the English
diplomat William Richard Hamilton threatened to burn all their
discoveries, ominously referring to the burned Library of Alexandria. Turner cited the
sixteenth article of the "Treaty of Alexandria". The British
capitulated, and they insisted only on the delivery of the monuments.
The French tried to hide the Stone in a boat despite the clauses of the
capitulation, but failed. The French were allowed to take the imprints
they had made previously, when embarking in Alexandria. General Menou
handed it over grudgingly. A squad of artillerymen seized the stone
without resistance. As they carted the magnificent ancient treasure
through Alexandria, French soldiers and civilians collected on the
streets and sputtered insults at them. In the spasmodic voyage from
Egypt to England, many of the Egyptian antiquities were damaged. Because
of the importance of the Rosetta Stone, however Colonel Turner
personally accompanied this precious cargo on its journey aboard a
frigate. The Rosetta Stone left Egypt from Alexandria and sailed into
the English Channel in February 1802. At Deptford the stone was placed
in a small boat and taken through customs. It was lodged at the quarters
of the Society of Antiquaries so experts could examine it before being
dispatched to its permanent station of public exhibition in the
British Museum in London, England (since 1802).
4.
A three-volume
1803
English
edition (quite rare)
of "Travels in
Upper and Lower Egypt During the Campaigns of General
Bonaparte in That Country", written and illustrated by
Vivant Denon, published by
T.N. Longman &
O. Rees (London).
In the spring of 1797, with
a direct assault against Britain out of the question,
Napoleon Bonaparte suggested threatening Britain's rich
commerce with India by invading
Egypt. A unique feature of the expedition, which set
sail on 19 May 1798, was the large number and high caliber
of the attached civilians, among them Baron
Dominique Vivant Denon
(1747-1825). Denon was one of the founders of the Louvre
Museum, and was responsible for saving many works of art and
monuments of French culture from destruction during the
French Revolution. Denon was entrusted by Napoleon to
assemble a team of artists, archeologists, linguists and
scholars to study the antiquities of Egypt for the first
time since Antiquity. In addition to assisting in the
formulation of practical measures for the rule of
Egypt, the 167 savants
accompanied the army to every corner of the country.
Protected by the French troops, Denon was able to explore
the country extensively. This book contains many etchings of
Egypt, including the famous etching of the Sphinx of Giza
shown at the top of this web page.
--
order postcard
of Sphinx of Giza |

Rare 3-Volume Set by
Vivant Denon,
1803 |
In the south, he reached
Assouan; from Keneh he went to Kosseir. Their studies of the great
monuments of ancient Egypt paved the
way for the science of Egyptology. It was during this expedition that
the Rosetta Stone was discovered, which ultimately enabled people to
decipher and translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Denon's book
was the first important fruit of the French expedition to Egypt. This
is an early English translation
of the work (apparently the first English edition was printed a year
earlier), and contains a wealth of beautiful fold-out plates and maps,
including contemporary scenes from Denon's travels, plans of ruins,
engravings of the monuments and reproductions of some of the art in
the ruins and temples.
Contemporary half
leather binding with marbled boards and edges. 392, 312, 366pp.
Illustrated with
57 engraved plates and maps.
8vo (standard sized book). CONDITION: Good to Very Good. All
volumes: Rubbing and edge wear to boards and spine. Hinges cracked.
Front board of Volume 1 loose but not yet detached. Split to centre of
spine of Volume 2, binding still okay. Missing 5 plates, but has 2
uncalled for. Some sunning to page. Varying foxing to pages and
plates, some plate just at edges, others have some spots to plates
themselves. A few plates have tape repairs to reverse. Scattered dirt
spots to pages. In general a tidy set, all text pages present, and
text clear and readable, foxing to margins of text pages only.
4. First Edition (American) book by Gaston Maspero, "The
Dawn of Civilization / Egypt and Chaldea", 1894 (400
images)
5. First Edition (London) book by Joseph Pollard, "The
Land of the Monuments: Notes of Egyptian Travel", 1896
6. March, 1873 Harper's Weekly article by Rev. William Hayes
Ward, "Our Debt to Cadmus: Hieroglyphics"
7. Original British Museum booklets, "History of the
Rosetta Stone", written by Wallis Budge. Printed by
Harrison and Sons, London) -- Four editions: 1922, 1939, 1951,1974)
8. "Ancient History: Egyptian..." by Charles
Rollin, 1854
9. "The Hebrew Bible, With Respect to Egypt" (incl.
maps), by Robert, Lord Bishop of Clogher. Printed for
J Warcus, London, 1760 (3rd Edition, Corrected), 493 pages,
bound with full original full calf leather.
10. "The Story of the Nations: Ancient Egypt", by
George Rawlinson, First Edition, 1887, with many
illustrations.
11. French edition of "L' Archeologie Egyptienne" by
Gaston Maspero, 1887. Rare, with many illustrations.
12. Leeds, England newspaper article erroneously
announcing the death of Napoleon in Egypt. Intriguing.
13. The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte by J.G. Lockhart
(1886), 496 pages with 9 tipped-in illustrations and many
wood engravings. London: Bickers & Sons, Leicester Square. Faversham School
Prize full calf binding with marbled endpapers and edges.
Prize bookplate on pastedown. Portrait frontispiece slight
foxing. Text, slight foxing. Slight foxing in prelims and
last few pages, otherwise clean. Plates, lovely and
luminous.
14. Hand written letter (Nov. 5th, 1805) by the former
Chief Ordonnateur
(Director) of the French Army during the
Napoleonic Egyptian Campaign.
15. "Egyptian Antiquities", produced by the
British Museum for the Library of Entertaining Knowledge,
and published by Knight London in 1832, this is a splendid 2
volume, 12mo size work. The two volumes have full page and
other engravings and have around 800 pages in total. Really
detailed work on Egyptian monuments, Rosetta Stone,
buildings, sculptures, tombs, papyrus, etc., etc. In the
original half calf boards.
16.
Rare Original French Text
Book, copyright 1900 -- "L'Expedition de
Bonaparte en Egypte",
Written by L.A. Thiers, with introduction by C. Fabregou,
published by D.C. Heath & Company. Most of the book is
written in French, with some English translation in the
back. 100 pages. It is an old college text book from
Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
17.
L’Egypte,
by old French traveller/diplomat/student of Egypt,
Gabriel Charmes, published by CALMAN LEVY, Rue Auber,
Paris, France, 1891, Chapters include, in part --
Mariette Pacha, Les Etudes Egyptologiques en Egypte, Les
Pyramides D’Ounas et de Meydoum, Dier-El-Bahari, L’Institut
D’Archeologie Orientale Du Caire, and more. Very antique
volume of 396 rich crispy style pages in its original
Calmann Levy, ‘L’EGYPTE’ soft card covers as published.

Jean
Champollion
in Egypt |
18. Lettre Ecrites D'Egypte et de Nubie en 1828 et
1829, by Champollionn le Jeune (Letters Written in
Egypt and Nubia in 1828 and 1829 by Francois Champollion)
with all illustrations intact. This very, very rare First
Edition by the translator of Egyptian Hieroglyphics is
seldom seen on the open market. Most copies are in large
University or Public library rare book collections. This
work is an important insight into the early work of one of
the Fathers of Egyptology. These are his own reflections and
opinions regarding the monuments of Egypt. It is important
to remember that Champollion only ever made one trip to
Egypt as he died soon after his return. A great loss to the
science of Egyptology.
-- Jean-Francois Champollion, a 10 year old child saw
some of the Egyptian artifacts and enquired about the
strange pictures (Hieroglyphs) where he was told that
no one yet understands what these pictures means. Since that
time Champollion committed himself to decipher the
Hieroglyphs. By the age of 16 he became a professor
mastering 10 languages at the same time. Champollion then
compares the two cartouches of PTOLEMY & CLEOPATRA
found on the Rosetta stone which contains similar
characters. He continued deciphering more cartouches and
texts from the temple of El Karnak. It took Champollion 24
years until he published his work in a book " Precis du
systeme Hieroglyphique ". Sadly Champollion died by a stroke
on 1832 when he was 41 years old.
|
-- Two extremely rare First
Edition French volumes, "Complete Summary of
Archaeology" by Jean Champollion-Figeac
(Published in Paris, 1825 and 1826, just a few years after
he cracked the code to hieroglyphics in 1822). Divided into
volumes. First: Monuments of architecture, Sculpture
and Painting, including/understanding constructions of any
kind, the statues, low-reliefs, figurines, tombs, furnace
bridges, vases painted, mosaic, etc...with an introduction
historical and finished by a vocabulary divides into
volumes. Second: Containing the treaties on the
engraved stones, the inscriptions, the medals, the utensils
crowned and common, movable, weapons, etc, followed by the
biographies of the most famous antique dealers,
archéologieque bibliography and of a vocabulary.
19.
Dr. Thomas Young is
the man who undertook
of deciphering hieroglyphics had perhaps the keenest scientific imagination and
the most versatile profundity of knowledge of his generation
— one is tempted to say, of any generation. Young was none
other than the
demonstrator of the vibratory nature of light.
Thomas Young was born into 'comfortable
circumstances' at Milverton, England on June 13, 1773, towards the end of
a period known as the Intellectual Revolution. He matured into the
Age of Romanticism among such contemporaries as the poets
Wordsworth and Shelley, the composers Beethoven and Schubert, the
philosophers Hegel and Schopenhauer, and his own scientific colleagues
Fresnel, Avagadro, Oersted and Faraday. Young was a precocious child who
could read fluently at the age of two and read widely the classics. He
started Latin at six, was tutored privately at first but later attended
private schools. By the time he was sixteen he was proficient in Greek and
Latin and was well acquainted with eight other languages, classical and
modern. By the age of eighteen he was recognized as a truly accomplished
scholar. In 1792, at age nineteen, Young decided on a career in medicine.
The following year he presented a paper before the Royal Society in which
he attributed the accommodation of the eye to its muscular structure; he
was elected one year later to membership of the Society. After completing
his medical studies at Edinburgh and Göttingen, he returned to London to
practice but continued his scholarly studies at Emmanuel College,
Cambridge. He became financially independent on the death of an uncle and
that allowed him to pursue his real interests.
Some investigations on sound and light,
which he carried out in 1798, likely formed the starting point for his
theory of interference. In fact, his interests and contributions were so
legion that he made some anonymously to avoid the charge that he was
neglecting his professional duties! In 1801 Thomas Young was appointed
professor of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution, which provided
him the opportunity of presenting lectures to popular audiences.
Apparently, his lectures were not well suited to this kind of audience,
being designed more for the specialist that the layman. He was appointed
foreign secretary to the Royal Society in 1802, a post that he held to the
end of his life. He resigned his professorial position at the Royal
Institution, feeling that his duties were affecting his medical career.
The same year he received the MB degree from Cambridge, and five years
later, the degree of MD. It
was during this period that Young conducted his now-famous experimental
investigations on light. In 1800 he published his Experiments on
Sound and Light in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society and presented a detailed account of his theory of
interference in the Bakerian Lecture On the Theory of Light and Colors
in 1801 [2].
In another Bakerian Lecture in 1803 entitled Experiments and
Calculations Relative to Physical Optics he summarized his
observations on interference and added several new phenomena. The
importance of his work was not apparent to his contemporaries and his
principle of interference remained more or less obscure for another
fourteen years, when it was 'rediscovered' by Fresnel. Young made other
significant contributions to physical optics in the areas of double
refraction and dispersion.

Dr. Thomas Young (1773-1879)
|
Young had his
attention called to the Rosetta Stone by accident
around 1814,
and his usual rapacity for knowledge at once led him to
speculate as to the possible aid this tri-lingual
inscription might give in the solution of Egyptian
problems. Resolving at once to attempt the solution himself,
he set to work to learn Coptic, which was rightly believed
to represent the nearest existing approach to the ancient
Egyptian language. His amazing facility in the acquisition
of languages stood him in such good stead that within a year
of his first efforts he had mastered Coptic and assured
himself that the ancient Egyptian language was really
similar to it, and had even made a tentative attempt at the
translation of the Egyptian scroll. His results were only
tentative, to be sure. Yet they constituted the very
beginnings of our knowledge regarding the meaning of
hieroglyphics. Just how far they carried has been a
subject of ardent controversy ever since. Not that there is
any doubt about the specific facts; what is questioned is
the exact importance of these facts. For it is undeniable
that Young did not complete and perfect the discovery, and,
as always in such matters, there is opportunity for
difference of opinion as to the share of credit due to each
of the workers who entered into the discovery.
|
Dr. Thomas Young's specific
discoveries were these: (1). that many of the pictures of the
hieroglyphics stand for the names of the objects actually delineated;
(2). that other pictures are sometimes only symbolic; (3). that plural
numbers are represented by repetition; (4). that numerals are represented
by dashes; (5). that hieroglyphics may read either from the right or from
the left, but always from the direction in which the animals and human
figures face; (6). that proper names are surrounded by a graven oval ring,
making what, he called a cartouche; (7). that the cartouches of the
preserved portion of the Rosetta stone stand for the name of Ptolemy alone
; (8). that the presence of a female figure after such cartouches, in
other inscriptions, always denotes the female sex; (9). that within the
cartouches the hieroglyphic symbols have a positively phonetic value,
either alphabetic or syllabic ; and (10). that several different
characters may have the same phonetic value.
Just what these phonetic values are,
Dr. Young pointed out in the case of fourteen characters, representing
nine sounds, six of which are accepted to-day as correctly representing
the letters to which he ascribed them, and the three others as being
correct regarding their essential or consonantal element. It is clear,
therefore, that he was on the right track thus far, and on the very
verge of complete discovery. But, unfortunately, he failed to take the
next step, which would have been to realize that the same phonetic values
given the alphabetic characters within the cartouches, were often ascribed
to them also when used in the general text of an inscription; in other
words, that the use of an alphabet was not confined to proper names. This
was the great secret which Young missed, but which his French successor,
Jean Francois Champollion, working on the foundation that Young had
laid, was enabled to ferret out. Young's initial studies of the Rosetta
stone were made in 1814 his later publications bore date of 1819.
Champollion's first announcement of results came in 1822; his second and
more important one in 1824. By this time, through study of the
cartouches of other inscriptions, he had made out almost the complete
alphabet, and the " Riddle of the Sphinx " was practically solved. He
proved that the Egyptians had developed a relatively complete alphabet
(mostly neglecting the vowels, as early Semitic alphabets did also)
centuries before the Phoenicians were heard of in history.
20. Hardbound Volume IV of American Quarterly Review
(September and December, 1828). This 546 page book contains
reviews of historical, scientific, and travel literature
published by Carey, Lea & Carey, Chesnut Street,
Philadelphia; 546 pages. Twenty-six of those pages are
dedicated to reviewing Jean Champollion's May/June
1827 article published in the Bulletin Universal
entitled, "Apercu des Resultats Historiques de la
decouverte de l'alphabete Hieroglyphique Egyptienne"
par M. Champollion le Jeune.
21. Magnificent extremely rare plate/print
(one of 511 plates), expertly backed with linen, of
Thutmose III from the monumental 1843 work of Jean
Champollion, the first to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs
(20" x 27").
--
Rare First Edition copy of "L'Univers Pittoresque. Egypte
Ancienne" by M. Champollion-Figeac (Jean
Champollion), Paris, Firmin
Didot, 1839. It contains 92 illustrations and an antique
folding map of Egypt. First few pages have some foxing, with
the rest in excellent condition. 500 pp., & 92 plates,1/2
maroon morocco with 5 raised bands & leather label, marbled bds. & endpapers.-- Very scarce First Edition, Egyptian Antiquities in
the British Museum, 1862. Details 250 exhibits.
Published by Smith, 196 pages. Excellent condition. In fact,
it appears to be unread. Over 6 pages, with three diagrams,
dedicated to the Rosetta Stone.
22. Intriguing early 1900s glass slide of the Rosetta Stone
by Moore, Bond &Co. (Chicago).
23. Two Copper engravings (22"x9" -- Battle Plan for
Alexandria and Map of Nile) titled, "Plan of the
Action of the 21st. of March Fought near ALEXANDRIA, by the
French under General Menou, and the English under Sir Ralph
Abercrombie" and also
"A Map of the
Western Branch of the Nile from the Latest Authorities".
Issued in 1803 as part of Robert Thomas Wilson's "History
of the British Expedition to Egypt To which is Subjoined a
Sketch of the Present State of That Country and its Means of
Defence".
24.
A fine 1719 original, copperplate engraved views of the
Pyramids and of the Sphinx, Giza, Egypt, with engraved
cursive commentary as borders: Description des Piramides
d'Egypte . . . Avec une Description tres Curieuse du
Sphinx, from Chatelain, Henri Abraham, Atlas
Historique..., Volume 6, Amsterdam: . First edition.
Excellent condition, heavy paper, crisp dark impression;
uncolored as always (any color seen in these images/maps is
applied by modern hands.) Dimensions: 17 1/2" x 21 1/4"
(overall);
25. This
collection has 82 extremely rare original plates/prints ( from "Description
de l'Égypte"
from the Napoleonic Egyptian Campaign, circa 1820.
These
official
plates/prints came from a huge lot sold in an auction in
2001, Paris -- the seller was the
French Government
-- from the
cellars of the French Government
Publications Office. Average plate/print size
is 29 inches x 22 inches. Some of the plates in this
collection are 56 inches long! --
(Description de l'Égypte was the result of the collaboration
of prominent scholars, several famous European scientists,
cartographers, topographers, and more than 160 artists and
technicians. They accompanied Napoleon's army during
Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798. Their goal was to
methodically collect information in areas as widely varied
as architecture, geography, botany and the humanities.
Description de l'Égypte was published in
23
volumes from 1809 to 1828 and includes over 900 plates.)
Regions depicted/represented by the official plates in this
collection are: Thebes, Karnak,
El Kab, Medynet-Abou, Hypogees, Elethyia, Heptanomide,
Beny-Hasan, Tentyris, Memnonium, Byban El Molouk, Latopolis,
Ile de Philae, Edfou, Louqsor and much, much more... |

Description
de l'Égypte:
Official plates/prints
previously owned by the
French Government. |
26. Maps of Egypt: -- Clouet (1768) -- Wilkinson
(1796) -- Mallet (1719) --
 |
27.
A ten inch plate made in Stockton-on-Tees by William Smith & Co. between
1825 and 1855 commemorating Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in Egypt that
lasted from 1798 to 1801. The plate is transfer printed with what seems to
be hand coloring under the glaze. It has no damage or crazing but there is
minute bubbling of the transfer and glaze at the edges, which then goes
over to the back of the plate much of the way around to varying degrees.
The impressed mark reads 44 W. S. & Co. Wedgewood (Yorkshire) and this
could indicate that the plate was made in 1844.
|
28.
Very rare Ancient
Egyptian Statue of Queen Tiye.
Origin:
Upper
Egypt
(1415-1340 B.C.).
Dimensions: Height: 6", Width: 5", Depth: 6".
This statue was purchased from bona fide dealer in upper Egypt.
This celebrated Nubian
queen was the beloved and honored wife of Amen-Hetep III,
who was one of the world's mightiest Pharaohs and conquerors.
King Amen-Hetep III,
had a very deep and unusual affection for Queen Tiye. In addition to the
usual titles of a King's wife, Tiye is described as "Royal" daughter and
"Royal" sister, when she was neither the daughter or the sister of a king,
but of parents who were not of royal lineage.
The full queenly titles which Tiye held in common with
the great heiress princesses of Egypt, were bestowed on her by Amen-Hetep
III, and were honorary.
Although Tiye was a girl
of common birth, she was a person of very strong character. Evident from
records, she was a beautiful young Black queen. A woman of great
intellect, ability, and a powerful influence. She shared the crown with
her husband as though she had been its lineal heiress. Queen Tiye had such
an important part in the affairs of Egypt, that foreign diplomats often
appealed directly to her in matters affecting certain international
relations. Queen Tiye was a full-blooded African.
Although there is no hard evidence to support it, some believe that her
son, Akhenaton
and his wife, Nefertiti
are thought to be the parents of King Tutankhamen,
who is also known as "King Tut."
As a symbol of the love
Amen-Hetep III, had for Queen Tiye, he declared that so she was treated in
life as his equal, she would be depicted in death. At the time of her
death, she was given a full "Royal" burial.
29.
Very rare
L'expédition
d'Égypte, 1798-1801, par Clément de Lajonquière.
Five large volumes in wraps, total of about
3400 pages! (1902, 2nd edition).
Among the campaigns of the revolution, consigning Egypt is both one of the
most popular and less well known.
Thus began the
monumental work of Clement Draveurs
(Clément de La Jonquière).
Published (about
100 years after the Napoleonic military campaign) from 1899 to 1907 under
the auspices of the History Section of the État de l'Armée, Paris, he
tells one of the most extraordinary adventures of the revolutionary
period.
Many testimonies, more or less reliable contemporaries; also numerous
texts on the science of "oriental dream."
The
work of Georges Rigault on the last leg of the expedition to Egypt and
those of Pierre de La Grèverie on Regiment Dromadaires round off the work
of a master in the final volume.
Vol. I: 673 p., Vol. II: 632 p., Vol. III: 720 p., Vol. IV: 688 p., Vol.
V: 692 p. A complete set. With numerous foldout maps. Vol. I: A rebinding
copy. Rear cover missing, backstrip missing parts and frayed. Shaken.
Internally excellent: text leaves clean and neat. Vol. II: Missing front
wrap cover, else in excellent condition – tight and clean. Vol. III: a
Very Good volume. Tight and clean with some wear to covers. Vol. IV: A
rebinding volume – shaken, backstrip cracked. Covers off and frayed.
Internally clean and neat. Vol. V: A Very Good volume. Tight and clean.
Covers with some wear and leaves somewhat yellowed. A remarkable complete
set.
BACKGROUND:
(translated from
French) In 1797, after the victory early, and unexpected, Napoleon
in Italy, England remains the main enemy.
One can oppose it
either by attempting an invasion, either by intervening on its links with
India. The
conquest by Bonaparte of Ionian Islands in August 1797 opened the way to
the Orient and reanimate the idea of conquest of Egypt, which would allow
the opening of the Isthmus of Suez, thus controlling of a more commercial
path runs to the riches of India.
As a first step,
in January and February 1798, the policy of the Executive moves to the
invasion.
Bonaparte examines all possibilities of invasion from ports in the north,
the troops are assembled, a fleet is formed, but the operation seems far
too risky and it is abandoned.
But we must fight
against England, and incidentally get rid of a Bonaparte too.
Talleyrand,
confirmed his analysis by the intervention of Magallon, will therefore
attempt Eastern map.
The decision to
intervene in Egypt was taken on March 5, 1798.
On August 22,
1799, Bonaparte, after the unfortunate expedition to Syria, even Egypt,
called for new targeted France.He left the expedition under the command of
Kleber, which does little to maintain in Egypt.
But Kleber is
totally convinced of the importance of scientific work, which continues,
despite the setbacks and delays of the policy. It creates Similarly, on
November 19, 1799 a commission to study more particularly modern Egypt.
On Nov. 22, 1799,
he took the decision to consolidate all the work of scholars of the
commission in a unique work, the Description of Egypt.
Kleber enters into
negotiations with the British and the Ottomans, to evacuate honorably and
Egypt to participate in military actions in Europe.
An agreement was
concluded on January 23, 1800 for the return in France, but its
implementation is not possible, given the internal divisions among
English, the sultan of procrastination and the resumption of hostilities
in Egypt.
After the victory of Heliopolis Kléber on the Ottomans, March 20, 1800,
there is no question of return, but the morale of the troops, such as
scholars rose.
Unfortunately, on
June 14, 1800, when the victory of Marengo, Kléber was assassinated in
Cairo. The
General Menou, being the oldest in the highest rank succeeded him as head
of the army.
Any momentum had
been able to restore Kléber members of the expedition despite the failure
of the draft back, disappears with him.
Until the final
departure to France, scholars no longer leave little near the Cairo and
Alexandria in order to be ready to leave at the first opportunity.
However Menou
continues the work of reorganization and modernization begun by Bonaparte
and continued by Kleber.
To him we owe the
fact that the publication of the description will not be provided by
private funds but rather by the state, so that is recognized and
sanctioned the importance of the work done by scholars.
After many
tribulations, scholars, gathered in Alexandria, obtain permission to leave
Egypt on May 13, 1801, but the English do not want to pass up, unless they
abandon all material collected during the exploration and their notes and
sketches.
The negotiations, sometimes tragic, lasting several months and it was not
until September that the first members of the committee may leave Egyptian
soil, having left in the hands of English the heaviest items that they had
found, including the famous Rosetta Stone.
30.
First American edition (1815)
of Travels by Edward Daniel Clarke, LLD (1769-1822), English
mineralogist. Clarke was an accomplished traveler of considerable
reputation. Travels In The Various Countries of Europe , Asia , and
Africa. Part II, Section II, Volume III Greece , Egypt ,
and the Holy Land. The First American Edition. Published By Jacob Gillet,
New York, 1815. Hardcover. Cloth Binding. Stamped Binding
Decoration . 4.5" x 7" xii + 285 Pages. This book is a single volume of
his Travels, containing Experiences in Egypt , plus the Greek
Aegean Islands of Kos , Rhodes , Patmos , Naxos , Paros , etc.
BACKGROUND: Edward Daniel Clarke, a Fellow
of Jesus College at Cambridge University, together with a friend visited
Egypt in 1801. There a war between the Napoleonic forces and the British
was going on. So when news reached Cairo on the 31st August about a treaty
being negotiated in Alexandria, Clarke hurried to inform the British
commander in Egypt, general Hutchinson, about the information Carlo
Rosetti, the imperial consul, had told him about Egyptian antiquities to
be shipped from Alexandria to France.
After the capitulation of Alexandria,
Clarke was of considerable use in securing for England the statues,
sarcophagi, maps, manuscripts, etc., which had been collected by the
French savants.
31.
The Annual Register for 1799.
The Napoleonic war was in full swing, French in central Egypt,
battle of El-Arisch, Gaza, Jaffa, but pushed back at Acre (with an account
of the siege of Acre), French arrive back in Cairo, loss of the French
army in Syria, famous battle of Aboukir in Europe, French cross the Rhine
many actions described throughout Europe, an important year in the war
full reported many dispatches, state papers. A large
volume of 828 pages. 1st edition of 1800.
-- The Annual Register for 1800, 738 pages plus contents section,
history as it happened written by people who were there.
The Napoleonic war was in full swing, Napoleon returns from Egypt
to wide acclaim, a splendid feast is given in his honor, the new
constitution gives him unbounded power, Britain rejects Napoleon’s
overture of peace, the Royalists in France finally lay down their arms,
siege of Geneva, Napoleon marches his army across the Alps, takes Milan
with the decisive Battle of Maringo, the French cross the Rhine, Munich
taken. At home in Britain prison riots, bread riots,
Malta and Curacao taken by the British, English fleet reaches Cadiz.
Plus many items from the London Gazette, plus all the usual state
papers, natural history, useful projects, antiquities etc. 1st
edition of 1801.
BACKGROUND: The
Annual Register first published in 1758. Sir Edmund Burke was an
early editor and principal contributor, still widely recognized as the
most valuable record of historical and political events, the most accurate
accounts you can find, still used today as a reference by modern
historians. Living history written as it happened by people who were
there. Most of the military and naval articles are in the form of first
hand dispatches from Officers in the field covering every conflict
worldwide. Each volume is presented in sections, History of Europe for
the year, Monthly Chronicle, State Papers, Characters, Natural History,
Useful Projects, Antiquities, Poetry and Review of books. The section
titled "The Monthly Chronicle" is of particular value to genealogists as
it brings together news stories from all over the United Kingdom and
Europe. Accidents, fires, explosions, riots, murder, robbery, important
trials are all detailed throughout the year. A fascinating snapshot of
the years news. Life as it really was. Living history at its best.
32. Much, much
more...

Climbing the Great Pyramid, 1899 (Stereoview)
_______________________________________
and much, much more...
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