Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie
Encyclopedia
Frederic Louis Norden
Frederic Louis Norden was a Danish naval captain and explorer.Also known as Frederick, Frederik, Friderick, Ludwig, Ludvig and Lewis, the name used on the first publication of his famous Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie is Frederic Louis Norden. His name is often shortened F. L...
's extensive documentation and drawings of his voyage though Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1737-1738. It contains some of the very first realistic drawings of Egyptian monuments and to this day remains a primary source for the looks of Egyptian monuments before widespread 19th and 20th century tourism and excavations.
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters is a Danish non-governmental science Academy, founded 13 November 1742 by permission of the King Christian VI, as a historical Collegium Antiquitatum...
, under order of Frederick V of Denmark
Frederick V of Denmark
Frederick V was king of Denmark and Norway from 1746, son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.-Early life:...
, first published the book in 1755. Norden had already done some preliminary work, but got entangled in war-service for England and died in France 1742 of tuberculosis, before anything was ready. He left his documents and drawings to his friend.
Mark Tuscher from Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, made the drawings into copperplates for the publication.
Norden published some test-drawings from his voyage in 1741, under the long name "Drawings of Some Ruins and Colossal Statues at Thebes in Egypt, with an account of the same in a Letter to the Royal Society".
A very often-used extract from this book is Norden's drawing of the Great Sphinx of Giza
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza , commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt....
. As the first near realistic drawing of the sphinx, he is the earliest known to draw the Sphinx with the nose missing. Although Richard Pococke
Richard Pococke
Richard Pococke was an English prelate and anthropologist. He was Protestant Bishop of Ossory and Meath , both dioceses of the Church of Ireland...
in the same year visits and later publishes a stylish rendering (in A Description of the East and Some other Countries, 1743), he draws it with the nose still on. Pococke's drawing is a faithful adoption of Cornelis de Bruijn
Cornelis de Bruijn
Cornelis de Bruijn was a Dutch artist and traveler. He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of people, buildings, plants and animals.- Biography :...
’s drawing of 1698 (Voyage to the Levant, 1702, English trans.), featuring only minor changes.
It is highly unlikely if the nose was still on that Norden out of free fantasy would leave it out. This drawing is often used to disprove the story that Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
destroyed the nose of the sphinx. If Norden indeed left it out, for unknown reasons, it would be an extreme ironic twist of history if then Napoleon then did take it off 60 years later.
Publications of the Book (or parts of it)
- 1741: Drawings of some ruins and colossal statues...., The Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - 1755: Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, tome premier, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and LettersRoyal Danish Academy of Sciences and LettersRoyal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters is a Danish non-governmental science Academy, founded 13 November 1742 by permission of the King Christian VI, as a historical Collegium Antiquitatum...
, Copenhagen. - 1757: Travels in Egypt & Nubia, 2 Volumes in 1, Lockyer Davis & Charles Reymer, London. (translated by Peter Templeman)
- 1757: A compendium of the travels of F.L. Norden through Egypt and Nubia, J. Smith, Dublin.
- 1779: F.L. Norden, Beschreibung seiner Reise durch Egypten und Nubien, Johann Ernst Meyer, LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and Breslau. - 1780: The antiquities, natural history, ruins and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia and Thebes. Exemplified in near two hundred drawings taken on the spot, Lockyer Davis, London.
- 1790: Frederik Ludvig Nordens Reiser igiennem Ægypten og Nubien in Samling af de bedste og nyeste Reisebeskrivelser i et udførligt Udtog, vol. 2, Gyldendal, Copenhagen.
- 1792: The antiquities, natural history, ruins, and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia, and Thebes. Exemplified in near two hundred drawings, taken on the spot, Edward Jeffery, London.
- 1795-1798: Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, Nouvelle édition, Pierre Didot l'ainé, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. (notes and additions by L. LanglèsLouis-Mathieu LanglèsLouis-Mathieu Langlès was a French academic, philologist, linguist, translator, author, librarian and orientalist. He was the conservator of the oriental manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Napoleonic France and he held the same position at the re-named Bibliothèque du Roi after the fall...
) - 1800: Atlas du voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, Bibliothèque portative des voyages, tome XI, Lepetit, Paris.
- 1814: The travels of Frederick Lewis Norden through Egypt and Nubia, Sydney's Press, New HavenNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
.
External links
- Danish Royal LibraryDanish Royal LibraryThe Royal Library in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and university library of University of Copenhagen. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries....
- Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie - Danish Royal Library - Travels in Egypt & Nubia
- Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de FranceThe is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
(Gallica) - Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, tome premier, The Danish Royal Library, Copenhagen - Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) - Travels in Egypt & Nubia, 2 Volumes in 1, Lockyer Davis & Charles Reymer, London
- NYPL Digital GalleryNYPL Digital GalleryThe NYPL Digital Gallery is a digital archive created by the New York Public Library that provides free access to a large collection of over 500,000 digitized images, the majority of which are in the public domain...
- The antiquities, natural history, ruins and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia and Thebes, Lockyer Davis, London - Oslo University - Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie