CHAMPOLLION (Jean-François dit Le jeune) Paris,... Lot 43

CHAMPOLLION (Jean-François dit Le jeune) Paris, Treuttel-Würtz, 1824. Précis du système hiéroglyphique égyptien ou recherches sur les éléments premiers de cette écriture sacrée, sur leurs diverses combinaisons et sur les rapports de ce système avec les autres méthodes graphiques égyptiennes. 2 volumes in-8 (24.2 × 16 cm) half red long-grained morocco, coral paper boards with imitation long-grain pattern, gilt fillet framing the boards, entirely untrimmed, (period binding). First edition of this seminal scientific work on Egyptology. Decorated with 16 hors-texte plates in the first volume, and 32 additional plates in a second volume, all lithographed by Charles Motte. Published two years after the Lettre à M. Dacier in which Champollion revealed his discovery of the phonetic values of hieroglyphic writing, the Précis du système hiéroglyphique is a direct continuation of this publication, and represents the culmination of ten years of research. In this famous publication, Champollion formulates a complete system for deciphering hieroglyphs, putting an end to the symbolist system inherited from Kirchner, by means of comparisons of hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic inscriptions. Exceptional provenance. It was presented by Champollion to the future king Louis-Philippe I: "À son altesse sérénissime Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, hommage respectueux de l'auteur" (autograph dispatch). The copy was subsequently kept in the king's library in Neuilly. In 1818, while Duke of Orléans, Louis Phillipe acquired the Château de Neuilly, where he built up a rich library of literature, history, travel and scientific works. Provenance - Stamp of the King's library in Neuilly - Bonnefons de Lavalle sale, Libraries of the late King Louis-Philippe, December 17, 1797, lot 2837. - Sale by M. Martin, Bibliothèque de Salvaing Boissieu, December 13 to 18, 1897, lot no. 1209. - Dry stamp of "qumran akkad sumer elan". - Bookplate with AD monogram inserted in a coat of arms with dolphin (unidentified). Slight stains on boards, small paper loss on one board, foxing. Front flyleaf of text volume browned. Bibliography Farout, "De la Renaissance à la Restauration: quelques étapes du déchiffrement des hiéroglyphes", Les Cahiers de l'École du Louvre (Online), 9|2016. Mathieu, "Lettre à Monsieur Dacier: le déchiffrement de l'égyptien par Champollion et la naissance de la grammaire égyptienne", paper presented at the colloquium Bicentenaire Champollion, l'Égypte et Montpellier, Montptellier, May 12, 2022.