Benoît de Maillet - Beschryvinge van Egipte, behelzende verscheide keurige overwegingen over de oude en hedendaagse - 1737

Description of Egypt, containing various neat considerations about the ancient and contemporary geography of that land, a surprising lead to a new hypothesis for determining the age of the earth, etc.

Benoît de Maillet (1656–1738), former French consul in Cairo
Editor/Translator: Jean-Baptiste Le Mascrier
Year of publication 1737 – Isaac Beauregard
2 volumes in 1 book

Contemporary full leather binding, spine equipped with bands and gold tooling.

Condition - very good - binding with little signs of use, only the spine a little worn and the book still beautifully bright with virtually no stains or rust.

This work contains an early systematized description of the geography, history, nature, and culture of Egypt by a Western diplomat.

This copy is complete and contains:
• 1 engraved frontispiece portrait of Benoît de Maillet (by J.G. de La Croix)
• 1 large, folding map of Egypt
• 7 copper engravings with images of cities, temples, obelisks, and landscapes

Beschryvinge van Egipte (1737) is the first Dutch translation of the memoirs of Benoît de Maillet, who served as French Consul-General in Cairo between 1692 and 1708. The work, edited by Abbé Jean-Baptiste Le Mascrier, is regarded as one of the most important and detailed European sources on Egypt from before Napoleon’s expedition. Maillet systematically describes the geography, monuments, daily life, and governance, while his observations of the sinking sea level also laid the groundwork for his later, groundbreaking geological theories on the age of the earth.