LOT 0426

Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of Bayban el Molouk at Thebes

EARLY 19TH CENTURY A.D.

40 3/8 x 27 1/8 in. (208 grams, 102.5 x 69 cm).

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 79 Thèbes - Byban el Molouk entitled Plan des 2e, 4e, 2e et 1er tombeaux des rois a l'Est. Plan du 3e tombeau a l'Ouest. Plan du Tombeau isolé de l'Ouest. Plan, coupe et détails de l'entrée et du sarcophage du 2e tombeau a l'Ouest. Plan et coupe du 1er tombeau a l'Ouest. Plan et coupe du 6e tombeau a l'Ouest.

From the collection of a North American priest.
Acquired between 1981-1996.
Property of a North American collector.

Produced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). This plate shows plans and sections of some of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.