A ccount of the ancient rolls of papyrus, discovered at Herculaneum, and the method employed to unroll them in a letter from the Hon. Henry Grey Bennett, to the Rev. Samuel Henley IN Archaeologia Vol. 15

Bennett, Henry Grey. Account of the ancient rolls of papyrus, discovered at Herculaneum, and the method employed to unroll them . . . In Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity 15 (1806): 114-117; plate. Whole volume. 271 x 215 mm. Quarter calf gilt, marbled boards in period style. Light toning, some offsetting from plates but very good.

First Edition. In the present communication, contained in a letter to Samuel Henley dated 23 November 1802, Bennett described a machine designed by the Rev. John Hayter for the purpose of unrolling the charred papyrus rolls discovered at Herculaneum in order to read their content. "Found in Naples when the city became an English protectorate, the rolls came to the attention of the Prince of Wales who, during the six years of English rule that followed, spearheaded an effort to unroll and transcribe them. He selected the Reverend John Hayter, future chaplain to George IV, to oversee the project" (Buchwald & Josefowicz). Hayter claimed to have opened 200 of the carbonized scrolls, but only managed half that number before being dismissed from the project. Buchwald, Jed, and Diane Josefowicz, "The Herculaneum Papyri," Popular Archeology, 14 July 2020 (web).