DENON, Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique-Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon.

DENON, Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique-Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon.DENON, Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon. [Paris], March 1, 1825. Single sheet (measuring c. 43 by 29 cm; previously folded) with text on recto. The draft for an official letter in Arabic is accompanied by a contemporary French word by word translation on a separate bifolium (measuring c. 24 by 19 cm); overall in very good condition. Baron

DENON, Dominique Vivant. Draft for a letter in Arabic from Dominique-Vivant Denon to the Vice King of Egypt, written by a Scribe and signed by Denon. [Paris], March 1, 1825.

Single sheet (measuring c. 43 by 29 cm; previously folded) with text on recto. The draft for an official letter in Arabic is accompanied by a contemporary French word-by-word translation on a separate bifolium (measuring c. 24 by 19 cm); overall in very good condition.

Baron Dominique Vivant Denon is one of the most famous early Egyptologists, who had accompanied Napoleon's Egyptian expedition as artist, collector, archaeologist and diplomat, the result of which was the monumental Voyage dans la basse et la haute Égypte of 1802, which established his reputation and sparked the Egyptian Revival. After this campaign Napoleon appointed him as the first director of the Louvre.

This letter was dictated to an Arabic scribe by the Baron Denon less than two months before his death. He recommends the lieutenant Adolphe Thiébault (1797-1875), General Paul Thiébault's son, who had fought with Napoleon's army, to the viceroy Muhammad Ali Pacha, the founder of modern Egypt who de facto ruled and expanded the country against the Ottoman claims. In a letter from Belliard to Boyer written at the beginning of 1825 during the French Military Mission to Muhamad Ali (correspondence of Generals Belliard and Boyer), Belliard indicates that "[…] General Thiébault's son is going to Egypt. He is very young and not very advanced to run in the oriental countries. I do not know him particularly well, but his father is a good and brave man. The son asks me to recommend him to you, I do so, my dear general; take care of him, watch over his youth; he is the son of a good comrade, he will know, I hope, by his conduct, how to deserve your kindness. […]".

Thiebault became a military instructor and collector of antiquities. Denon was a diplomat ever since the ancien régime, had served in Egypt under Napoleon and can be regarded as the father of modern Egyptology. As an artist and engraver he was responsible for the monumental two-volume work of 1802, Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte, pendant les campagnes du général Bonaparte. He remained engaged in all matters Egyptian after the end of Napoleon's reign. In the 1820s the Khedive himself sought close collaboration with the French and sent Egyptian students to Paris, to create active 'modernizers' for the new independent state. In 1829 Muhammad Ali presented the French with the Luxor Obelisk, which was erected in the Place de la Concorde where it still stands. However short the duration of the French occupation of Egypt, the ties between the two countries became lasting and strong, as documented by this letter.

SKU: 2116539