Frederic Louis Norden (22 October 1708 – 22 September 1742) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

naval captain, cartographer, and archaeological explorer. Also known as ''Frederick'', ''Frederik'', ''Friderick'', ''Ludwig'', ''Ludvig'' and ''Lewis'', names used on the publications of his famous ''

Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie'' (1755) records Frederic Louis Norden's extensive documentation and drawings of his voyage through Egypt in 1737–38. It contains some of the very first realistic drawings of Egyptian monuments and to this day re ...

''.

Biography

Norden was born in

Holstein-Glückstadt Holstein-Glückstadt or Schleswig-Holstein-Glückstadt is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein that were ruled by the Kings of Denmark in their function as dukes ...

. He entered the

Royal Danish Naval Academy The Royal Danish Naval Academy ( da, Søværnets Officersskole or more commonly, ''Søofficerskolen'') educates and commissions all officers for the Royal Danish Navy. Having existed for more than 300 years, it is the oldest still-existing offic ...

at Copenhagen in 1722. He was sent on a study mission abroad in 1732. Norden made a voyage through

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

all the way down to

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in 1737–1738. At the request of King

Christian VI of Denmark Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

, he was to enter into a trade agreement with Ethiopia on behalf of Denmark. Norden made abundant notes, observations and drawings of everything around him, including people, pharaonic monuments, architecture, installations and maps. On 8 January 1741 he became a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London (registered as ''Frederic Lewis Norden''). He died of tuberculosis the following year in Paris. Norden had prepared the publication of his travel notes all of which were published in the posthumous ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie'' (Copenhagen, 1755). Carl Marcus Tuscher (1705–1751) from Nuremberg made the drawings into copperplates for the publication. In 1757 an English edition was published, in 1779 a German edition and in 1795 a French edition.

Works

Drawings of some ruins and colossal statues at Thebes in Egypt
1741

Drawing from ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie''

Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie 3 par Norden 1795.png, ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie''
(1795) Paris: Pierre Didot l'aine Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie 1 par Norden 1795.png, ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie''
(1795) Paris: Pierre Didot l'aine

References

Other sources

Additional reading

*Buhl, Marie-Louise, et al.: ''The Danish Naval Officer, Frederik Ludvig Norden'', (

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

: Copenhagen, 1986)

External links

''Voyage d'Égypte et de Nubie''
University of Oslo 1708 births 1742 deaths 18th-century Danish naval officers People from Schleswig-Holstein Danish explorers Danish cartographers Danish travel writers 18th-century Danish people Fellows of the Royal Society {{Explorer-stub