''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie'' (1755) records

Frederic Louis Norden Frederic Louis Norden (22 October 1708 – 22 September 1742) was a Danish naval captain, cartographer, and archaeological explorer. Also known as ''Frederick'', ''Frederik'', ''Friderick'', ''Ludwig'', ''Ludvig'' and ''Lewis'', names used ...

's extensive documentation and drawings of his 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 ...

in 1737–38. 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 {{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 ...

, under the order of

Frederick V of Denmark Frederick V (Danish and Norwegian: ''Frederik V''; 31 March 1723 – 14 January 1766) was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 6 August 1746 until his death in 1766. He was the son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophie Ma ...

, 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 ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

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 The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, E ...

. 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 (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English-born churchman, inveterate traveller and travel writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church ...

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 or Cornelius de Bruyn (; 16521726/7), also formerly known in English by his French name Corneille Le Brun, was a Dutch artist and traveler. He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of peopl ...

'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 Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

destroyed the nose of the Sphinx.

Publications of the book (or parts of it)

* 1741 – ''Drawings of some ruins and colossal statues....'', 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. * 1755 – ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie'', tome premier, The

, 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 Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. * 1775 - ''Beskrivelse over Ægypten og Nubien'', Copenhagen, translated by Jørgen Stauning. The first Danish translation of parts of the work. * 1779 – ''F.L. Norden, Beschreibung seiner Reise durch Egypten und Nubien'', Johann Ernst Meyer,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

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. * 1795–98 – ''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie'', Nouvelle édition, Pierre Didot l'ainé,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. (notes and additions by L. Langlès
v.1v.2
* 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 Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

External links

Danish Royal Library The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...

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''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie''
* Danish Royal Library �
''Travels in Egypt & Nubia''
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Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

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''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
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NYPL Digital Gallery The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

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''The antiquities, natural history, ruins and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia and Thebes'', Lockyer Davis, London
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Oslo University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

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''Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voyage D'egypte Et De Nubie 1755 books Danish non-fiction books Travel books Egyptology books

Publications of the book (or parts of it)

See also

External links