Description de l’Ēgypte

20 vols. Paris, 1809-1822.

『エジプト誌』

　Having been crowned emperor, Napoleon ordered publication of the scientific findings of his expedition to Egypt, and these began to be published in 1809 under the title Description de l’Égypt. The full title of what became a series of publications was Description de l'Égypte, ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française (Description of Egypt, or Collection of observations and research that were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army). These continued to be published by the Imprimerie Nationale up to 1822,one year after Napoleon's death, “by order of the Emperor Napoleon.”
　The text was divided into a nine volumes consisting of four volumes on antiquities, three volumes on the modern state, and two volumes on natural history, while the plates were divided into 11 large-format volumes consisting of five volumes on antiquities, two volumes on the modern state,three volumes on natural history, and one volume of maps.
　Due to binding variations, the series has been published in both 20-volume editions (as in this collection) and 22-volume editions. The plates are all exquisite copperplate prints, and include hand-colored illustrations of ntiquities, plants, and animals. The still incredible detail of the plates bears testimony to the standard of French printing technology at the time.
　When first published, practically nothing was known about Northeast Africa in Europe, and publication of this series triggered a wave of research on Egypt. Perhaps most famously of all, it was thanks to the Rosetta Stone depicted in these volumes that Jean-François Champollion and other scholars succeeded in deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that had long been thought to have been indecipherable.
　　　　　　　　　　　　 （text 40×28 cm×9 vols.　plates 72×56 cm×11 vols.）

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