LOT 0487

Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Plan of Cairo

EARLY 19TH CENTURY A.D.

41 3/4 x 27 1/4 in. (231 grams, 106 x 69.5 cm).

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 50 from Vol .I of Description de l'Égypte : ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française. entitled Le Kaire. Plan particulier de la ville.

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). The papyrus manuscript was recovered from the underground chambers (hypogea). The original papyrus is now held in the Bibliothèque Nationale (1-19), Paris (Papyrus Cadet).