Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien. Text volumes I to V, plates volumes I to XII ( 17 volumes bound in 12. Complete set).
(Genève: Éditions de Belles-Lettres, 1972-1973 (Plates volumes); 1975 (Text volumes). Facsimile edition. Softcover. Large quarto (11 3/4 x 8 1/4"). Text I: x, 238pp Text II: 261, [1]pp; Text III: 310pp; Text IV: 176pp; Text V: 406pp; Plates I & II: 145pp of plates; Plates III & IV: 153pp of plates; Plates V & VI: 172pp of plates; Plates VII & VIII: plates 173-304; Plates IX: 90pp of plates; Plates X: 75pp of plates; Plates XI & XII: 127pp of plates. A total of 895 plates. Original printed wrappers.
Facsimile edition of Karl Richard Lepsius' monumental "Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien," the spectacular chief result of the author's 4-year long expedition to Egypt and Nubia between 1842 and 1846.
It all started in 1842 when Prussian Emperor Friederich Wilhelm IV commissioned Lepsius to lead a scientific expedition to Egypt and Nubia to record monuments and to bring back to Prussia treasures he might discover. The expedition was modelled after the earlier Napoleonic mission, with surveyors, draftsmen, and other specialists.
For three years the expedition visited sites along the Nile, both known and previously unknown. In addition to exploring Giza, Abusir, Saqqara, and Dahshur, the Lepsius team traveled to Nubia (then called Äthiopia) where they conducted the earliest scientific investigations.
The expedition brought back three types of material: first, more than 1,300 sketches and drawings, representing Nile Valley landscapes, architectural renderings of tombs and temples, and copies of hieroglyphs, inscriptions, murals, and bas-reliefs; then, mechanical reproductions consisting of tracings, plaster casts of various objects, and some 6,000 squeezes of inscriptions in several languages; and finally, original artifacts.
Following his return to Prussia in 1846, Karl Lepsius set about preparing and editing the publication of this monumental work, "Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien."
This set is a compendia of 895 plates of ancient Egyptian inscriptions, as well as accompanying commentary and descriptions. These plans, maps, and drawings of temple and tomb walls remained the chief source of information for Western scholars well into the 20th century, and are useful even today as they are often the sole record of monuments that have since been destroyed or reburied.
Ex-library copy, with reference sticker at upper front joint and tail of spines, stamp at top and bottom paper edges, and bookplate on inside of each front cover. Introduction in French. Text in German. Wrappers and interior in overall very good condition. vg. Item #46660
Price: $875.00