The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen, Discovered by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter
London: Cassell & Company, Ltd., 1923, 1927 & 1933.
Three volumes, all first editions, first printings. Volume 1 is a presentation copy signed by Howard Carter on the half-title page in 1924 and inscribed with thanks for the recipient's "kind good services." A blank space is left for the latter's name, filled in by Carter's colleague Lindsley F. Hall, his bookplate to front pastedown.
xxiii, 23; xxxiv, 277; xvi, 248 pp., copiously illustrated with black and white plates. Bound in publisher's brown cloth lettered in gilt, morocco onlay stamped with gilt scarab to each front board, decorative Egyptian motif endpapers; lacking dust jackets. Near Fine with light rubbing to covers, hinges tender or starting. Volume 1 overopened throughout, upper corner of front board bumped, paperclip indentation to first few leaves. Rear boards of Volumes 2 and 3 slightly bowed, dust-soiling and foxing to textblock edges occasionally impinging on margins. Abrasion to fore edge of Volume 3 textblock and soft ripple to plates at rear.
Lindsley Foote Hall (1883-1969) was an American Egyptologist and archeological draftsman who took part in the expedition that discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen. The expedition was led by the British archaeologist Howard Carter, who dedicated the first volume of The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen to his friend and patron Lord Carnarvon, "who died in the hour of his triumph." The Earl had supported Carter through five years of fruitless searching, and Carter delayed opening the tomb entrance that he and his workers finally found to give the Earl time to travel from Highclere Castle to be present on the momentous occasion.
Carnarvon's accidental death from blood poisoning five months later gave rise to the myth of Tutankhamun's curse, which became part of the tomb's massive cultural impact. Thousands of Western visitors flocked to Luxor during the first year of the discovery, and many more came after that. The nascent Art Deco movement took its shape from the objects and artwork buried with the ancient king, and Egyptian influences were seen in everything from government buildings to household goods and fashion. Carter's first account of his sensational find, The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen, was a bestseller. He followed it with this more detailed three-volume work, which could not be completed until the tomb was fully excavated in 1932.
A beautiful set, double signed by two men who took part in the most important archeological discovery of the 20th century.
Price: $35,000