Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, including their Private Life, Government, Laws, Arts, Manufactures, Religion, Agriculture, and Early History; derived from a Comparison of the Paintings, Sculptures, and Monuments still Existing, with the Accounts of Ancient Authors [Five Volumes]

London: John Murray, 1847. Third edition. Contemporary tree calf, rebacked, raised bands, red morocco title label, black morocco volume label, both in gilt, boards ruled and bordered in gilt, edges and turn-ins decorated with gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers. Very good copies, extremities rubbed, one volume with top fore-corners bumped and worn with minor loss, labels with some chipped edges, owner's bookplate on front pastedowns, binding solid, contents fine. A beautiful set.. Illus. with 94 lithographed plates, some color, double-page and/or folding, and over 500 woodcuts. 8vo. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875) had planned an army career, but is first visit to Egypt so enthralled him, that he didn't leave for twelve years. "Wilkinson's greatest published work was Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (1837), a profusely illustrated description of ancient Egyptian society. Drawing upon his work in the tombs at Gurna, Wilkinson was able to present a poignant picture of daily life in ancient Egypt that instantly caught the popular imagination. Praised by one reviewer as a ‘restoration to life, as it were, of the ancient Pharaohs, and their subjects' (QR, Jan 1839, 120), it passed through many editions, influencing generations of English-speaking readers," (DNB). Provenance: Armorial bookplates of Edward Huth. Lowndes 2924. Brunet VI, 1451 (1st). (Inventory #: 34250)