Description de l'Egypte,

Second edition, 37 volumes, comprising 11 atlas volumes and 24 text volumes bound in 26 (volume 18 in 3 parts), atlases large folio (660 x 515mm.) and text 8vo (201 x 124mm.)
plate volumes: 900 engraved plates and maps, many double-page and/or folding (comprising: Antiquités: 5 volumes, half-title, 5 printed titles, coloured engraved frontispiece, "Médaille Egyptienne" leaf, folding letterpress plate list and 419 engraved plates (97+92+69+72+89), plus: small folding plate A "Tableau synoptique des constellations" bound at end of volume 1, and, Rosetta stone: 8 sheets showing 16 numbered plates of inscriptions, "Médailles trouvées en Syrie" (bound after plate 59), and "Produits de la machine à graver" (245 bis) bound at end of volume 5; Etat Moderne: 2 volumes, printed titles, engraved frontispiece incorporating a bust of Louis XVIII, text leaf and engraved "Canevas trigonométrique du Kaire [-Alexandrei]" plate bound in volume 2, and 170 plates and maps (83+87); Histoire naturelle: 3 volumes (including volume 2 bis), 244 plates (62+105+77); Atlas: printed title, double-page engraved additional title, 52 plates and maps, uniformly bound in contemporary black morocco-backed tree-calf papered boards by F. Gastel (signed on lower pastedown), flat spines gilt, crowned monogram at head of spines, small oval ink stamps to titles, some spotting and occasional light offsetting, plate 43 of Etat Moderne a little creased, spines slightly faded, boards a little rubbed and chipped, without a lithographed portrait of Louis XVIII (see catalogue note)
text volumes: half-titles, 84 engraved, lithographed or letterpress tables, maps and plates, many folding (comprising 3 maps, 48 plates (36 of which on 18 leaves) and 33 tables), other illustrations and music in the text, volume 10 (1821) with additional letterpress title (dated 1826) and list of the text volumes loosely inserted, bound in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards (not uniform with plates), flat spines gilt, red leather labels (some later), 2 small oval ink stamps to titles, one plate cut by binder with slight loss (vol.17, facing p.587), occasional spotting, some labels missing, rubbed

the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
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At the time of publication, the Description was the largest printed work ever produced. Its influence was enormous, establishing Egyptology as an intellectual discipline and nurturing a passion for Egyptian art throughout the Western World. Edited by some of the leading intellectual figures in France, the Description also includes contributions from celebrated artists such as Jacques Barraband, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, Jules-César Savigny and others.

The combined work of several dozen scholars, this "living archive" of Napoleon's expedition took over twenty years to complete. The huge undertaking was co-ordinated by the Institut de l'Egypte, founded by Napoleon and with Gaspar Monge, the mathematician, as its president. Monge and the chemist Berthollet recruited leading academic figures to join the expedition, including Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, Savigny, Méchain, Quesnot Nouet, René Desgenettes and the surgeon Dominique Jean Larrey. Of their many achievements, the discovery of the Rosetta Stone must rank amongst the most important.

It was only after Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 that Europe came to know the Orient more scientifically. In the preface to the work, Fourier explains that scholars were grappling with the mysteries of Egypt in order to restore the country from what he sees as its current state of "barbarism" to its former greatness. By engulfing Egypt with the instruments of Western knowledge and power, Fourier maintained that history would recall how "Egypte fut le thêatre de sa [Napoleon's] gloire, et préserve de l'oubli toutes les circonstances de cet événement extraordinaire". With the publication of this monumental work, Fourier's ambition was certainly achieved.

Another set of plates for the second edition was offered in these rooms (7 May 2009, lot 78) which included a lithographed portrait of Louis XVIII, but did not include the engraved frontispiece to the Etat Moderne, present here, which incorporates a bust of Louis XVIII.