Descrizione

Large 4to. (4), 175, (1) pp. With a folding engraved plate. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine title over red marbled boards. First edition of one of the earliest studies of the Rosetta Stone, published some 18 years before Champollion deciphered the text. N. G. Palin (1765-1842) was a leading Swedish diplomat whose postings included Madrid, Vienna, Dresden, and Constantinople. He made several journeys to Asia Minor, Greece, and Egypt, twice reaching the Cataracts of the Nile. On leave from 1824, he devoted all his time to his Egyptological studies. - Binding only very slightly rubbed; spine professionally rebacked preserving gilt title label and old library label. Paper a little browned; bookplate of the Portuguese historian Francisco Soares de Lacerda Machado (1870-1955) to flyleaf. Rare. - Gay 1792. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 194. Brunet VI, 29107. Kayser I, 57. OCLC 40974048.