Details

LOT 0466

Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Isle of Philae

EARLY 19TH CENTURY A.D.

41 x 27 1/8 in. (255 grams, 104 x 69 cm).

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 1 from Île de Philae entitled Plan Général de l'île et de ses environs.

Provenance

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

Footnotes

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). The Philae temple complex was one of the monuments moved during the construction of the Aswan High Dam. It was carefully dismantled piece by piece and reassembled on the island of Agilkia.