BUDGE, E. A. Wallis (trans.).

£750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Oriental Wit and Wisdom or the "Laughable Stories". First edition, presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "Sidney Smith Esq. M.A. from the translator. 21.10.24." From 1914, Smith worked under Budge in the department of oriental antiquities at the British Museum, Budge serving as keeper until his retirement shortly before the date of this presentation. The two collaborated on many scholarly publications and Smith acted as the executor of Budge's will.Appointed keeper of the department in 1894, Budge (1857-1934) "devoted himself whole-heartedly to its service. He worked zealously to expand the museum's collections of Egyptian and western Asiatic antiquities, display them for the benefit of the general public, and make the more significant texts and objects available to scholars in the form of printed editions and catalogues" (ODNB). He was also responsible for a number of excavations in Egypt and Mesopotamia. A prolific translator and writer, Budge produced editions of cuneiform, ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopic texts, as well as historical accounts, dictionaries, and grammars.The primary binding of Oriental Wit and Wisdom was green cloth with gilt lettering on the front board. This remainder binding incorporates a new type setting of the title page (still dated 1899) and the preface. It also omits the table of contents.

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