Book Description

A book is more interesting in its subject, or more satisfactory in its execution, is seldom issued from the press. The country of which it treats, and the circumstances which it was produced, equal each other in singularity. So writes the translator of this work, first published in English in 1802, and here republished in facsimile, complete with maps and original engravings, in two volumes. Baron Dominique Vivant Denon (1747-1825), French illustrator and government official, accompanied Napoleon on his Egyptian campaign in 1798. His journal combines an extraordinary account of military endeavor, with a survey of the country and its people as seen through the eyes of a keen and sensitive observer. The resultant work, enhanced with numerous illustrations by the author, holds a unique place in both European and Arabic historical studies. The author later became director general of French museums, and was the first administrator to organize collections in the Louvre. The republication of his work will be widely welcomed.