Uncovering the Past

Most people have some interest in the past. On a personal level it might be about our forebears, their upbringing and their lives. A story of how we got here and perhaps why we are the way we are. On a larger scale the same curiosity is found in the study of archaeology and the ancient world. By understanding how people lived we might find lessons for ourselves. Uncovering their monuments and artifacts connects us with the past and preserves our cultural heritage. Perhaps most relevant to those of us interested in travel and exploration is the sense of adventure and discovery which lures us into searching out sites of interest, especially when studying the exploits of the early archaeologists who were travelling in often inhospitable regions with little in the way of support.

The city of Palmyra was one of the most important in the ancient world. Situated in Syria and reputed to have been occupied by King Solomon, it occupied a position at the centre of trade routes linking East and West. There had been Western travellers to the ruins in the last seventeenth century, but what really brought it to public attention was the publication of Robert Wood’s Les Ruines de Palmyre (1753). This was the result of a tour to Asia minor and Syria made by Wood in 1750 accompanied by James Dawkins, who financed the expedition, and Giovanni Battista Borra, an Italian artist. Wood was the topographer and copied the inscriptions. The resulting book was a sensation. Politically it was seen as a connection with the French Revolution as an example of a great empire in decline, but more importantly it had a huge influence on neoclassical design, bringing to the West architectural and design elements which challenged the popularity of Italian design.  The book was published in both English and French, both published in London, and we offer a beautiful, well margined copy of the French text in a particularly handsome French binding.

In 1817, the Comte de Forbin made a tour to the Levant and Syria. Financed by the Louvre, he was authorised to purchase Greek and Roman antiquities on the museum’s behalf, following the depletion of its collections as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and the restitution of artworks to Italy. Influenced by the French savants who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, Forbin measured and documented as he went along, providing a record of his excavations. His expedition helped establish France as the cultural authority in the region and was to lead to the acquisition of the Venus de Milo in 1820. The Voyage dans le Levant (1819), published as a very large folio but in a surprisingly small edition of only 325 copies, is a scarce work. Our copy is a rare fine uncut example in its original calf-backed blue paper boards – a wonderful copy of a very important work.

The destruction of Pompeii in 79 CE was one of the great catastrophes of the ancient world. It wasn’t until excavations in the eighteenth century, however, that the remarkable preservation of the moment of its destruction was revealed. It soon became an essential destination on the Grand Tour. The Swiss artist Jakob Huber visited the site in 1817. In 1819 he published a superb series of hand-coloured lithographs in Naples recording what he had seen, Collezione di Vedute (1818-19). These twenty astonishing views have the appearance of vibrant watercolours; their beautiful red morocco binding having preserved them from any fading. A later edition was published in Zurich in aquatint in 1824, but this is the excessively rare true first edition. 

No narrative of archaeology resonates with us today quite like Howard Carter’s account of his discovery of the tomb of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamen. The supposedly cursed tomb and the death of his sponsor, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon shortly after entering the Tutankhamen’s burial place, has provided fodder for numerous films.  Of more lasting importance was the fact that the tomb had not been looted and it was therefore the most intact royal tomb from ancient Egypt. Due to Carter’s meticulous methodology in recording his discoveries, his The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen, 3 vols (1923, 1927, 1933) is a primary historical document and launched popular interest in Egyptology. Increasingly difficult to find the complete work in true first edition form, our copy has the very rare dust wrappers making it a particularly choice copy. 

Written by Julian Mackenzie

Interested in Travel & Exploration?

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Get in touch with our Travel specialist Tomos Nutt and Senior Travel Specialist Julian MacKenzie for more information, or visit us at 94 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SJ.