LEPSIUS, Richard Discoveries in Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai, in the Years 1842-1845, During the Mission sent out by His Majesty Frederick William IV of Prussia … Edited, with Notes, By Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie. London: Richard Bentley. 1852.
8vo. Near-contemporary half calf over pebble-grained cloth, spine with raised bands and morocco lettering-piece, compartments ornamented in gilt, marbled edges and endpapers; pp. xvi, 455; title with vignette, tinted lithographic frontispiece, one folding engraved map, one plate of inscriptions; a little wear to extremities, light offsetting from endpapers and frontispiece, a very good copy with contemporary bookplate A. C. Mansel-Pleydell inside front cover.
First edition in English. The leading German egyptologist Lepsius had been sent to Egypt by the King of Prussia at the urging of Bunsen and Humboldt (to whom this work is dedicated) to conduct historical and antiquarian research into the ancient Egyptian monuments in the valley of the Nile as far South as Sennar in Sudan, and the peninsula of Sinai. Assisted by many artists, he investigated the antiquities of the country from 1842-45, and sent back to Berlin 15,000 Egyptian antiquities and plaster casts. These letters contain a lively mix of reports on antiquities and ancient monuments and narratives of current events in Egypt and Sinai, including a slave rebellion, proper narratives of travelling and encounters with locals, Arabs and fellahin. The way back to Europe led via the Levant with one long letter on Lebanon and surroundings (pp. 394 to 420).
SKU: 2124061