Champollion, Jean Francois.

First edition, 4 volumes, folio (704 x 530mm.), additional coloured title in volume 1, half-titles in volumes 2-4, 507 plates (of 508 or 509 according to Blackmer, see footnote), 51 coloured, one double-page, nineteenth-century red half morocco gilt, gilt stamp "Bibliotheca Conoviana" on upper cover turn-in, gilt edges, library stamp of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on printed titles, [Blackmer 309; Hilmy I, 129], lacking plate 155 (see footnote), plate 294bis not present (probably never called for, see footnote), one plate (149[bis]) misbound in vol.3, plate 393bis misnumbered 313bis, some plates spotted, bindings rubbed in places, morocco occasionally peeled

"One of the monuments of Egyptological publishing" (Blackmer).

Champollion conducted this systematic survey of Egypt in 1828-1829 accompanied by Rosellini (see previous lot) with whom he planned the publication of this work. Champollion died in 1832 while it was being prepared and his brother Champollion-Figeac took over the editorial task. However the projected ten volumes of text to accompany the plates never appeared.

This appears to be the most complete copy to have been offered at auction in the last 30 years. The plates are numbered 1-446 and in addition there are up to 66 additional or 'bis' plates, in theory making 512 plates in total. However publication was complex, and according to Blackmer plates 179, 296 and 332 were "not used"  (and are not present here), reducing the total to 509 plates, and "there is a possiblity that [294bis] did not in fact appear" (also not present here), reducing the total further, to 508. The only plate called for by Blackmer which is missing from this copy is no.155 (which was also missing from two of the other near complete copies of recent times). Many of the plates appear in Rosellini's I Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia (see lot 167).