Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique-Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon.

by DENON

£1,600 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

Signed

DENON, Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique-Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon. [Paris], March 1, 1825. Single sheet (measuring c. 43 by 29 cm; previously folded) with text on recto. The draft for an official letter in Arabic is accompanied by a contemporary French word-by-word translation on a separate bifolium (measuring c. 24 by 19 cm); overall in very good condition. Baron Dominique Vivant Denon is one of the most famous early Egyptologists, who had accompanied Napoleon's Egyptian expedition as artist, collector, archaeologist and diplomat, the result of which was the monumental Voyage dans la basse et la haute Égypte of 1802, which established his reputation and sparked the Egyptian Revival. After this campaign Napoleon appointed him as the first director of the Louvre. This letter was dictated to an Arabic scribe by the Baron Denon less than two months before his death. He recommends the lieutenant Adolphe Thiébault (1797-1875), General Paul Thiébault's son, who had fought with Napoleon's army, to the viceroy Muhammad Ali Pacha, the founder of modern Egypt who de facto ruled and expanded the country against the Ottoman claims. In a letter from Belliard to Boyer written at the beginning of 1825 during the French Military Mission to Muhamad Ali (correspondence of Generals Belliard and Boyer), Belliard indicates that "[…] General Thiébault's son is going to Egypt. He is very young and not very advanced t

• Binding: Hardcover

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