Essai sur les Hieroglyphes des Egyptiens 1744

''Essai sur les hiéroglyphes des Égyptiens'' was a significant 1744 French translation of an English work on the

history of writing The history of writing traces the development of writing systems and how their use transformed and was transformed by different societies. The use of writing prefigures various social and psychological consequences associated with literacy a ...

Content

The ''Essai'' translated a section (book IV of volume 2) of '' The Divine Legation of Moses'' (from 1737) by

William Warburton William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare. Lif ...

, thought by the original author to have value independent of his main religious thesis. The work of de Malpeines, the translator, appeared under the longer title ''Essai sur Les hiéroglyphes des Égyptiens, où l'on voit l'origine et le progrès du langage et de l'écriture, l'antiquité des sciences en Égypte, et l'origine du culte des animaux.'' It was based on 140 pages of the original work of Warburton, which in all ran to over 1000 pages. Those pages are the part of the work that is now most remembered. The book as published also contained a work of

Nicolas Fréret Nicolas Fréret (; 15 February 1688 – 8 March 1749) was a French scholar. Life He was born in Paris on 15 February 1688. His father was ''procureur'' to the ''parlement'' of Paris, and destined him to the profession of the law. His first tutor ...

, "Remarques sur la chronologie et sur la première écriture des Chinois". The notes to ''Essai'' itself discussed the views of Warburton and Samuel Shuckford on

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

Translator

Marc-Antoine Léonard de Malpeines (or des Malpeines) (1700–1768) was a French lawyer. He is known mainly for his 1744 translation and adaptation, the ''Essai''.

Influence

Condillac's ''Essai sur l'origine des connaissances humaines'' (1746) was influenced by the ''Essai''. The major influences in his ''Traité des systèmes'' were the ''Essai'', and the ''Histoire des oracles'' of Fontenelle. He carried over verbatim the ''Essai's'' explanation of the transition from painting to

hieroglyphic writing Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters.I ...

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...

's ''Lettre sur les sourds-et- muets'' (1751) was also influenced by the ''Essai''. Warburton's theory on the origin of language in metaphor was taken up by the ''

Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

'' group, and

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

. Rousseau mentions Warburton in ''

The Social Contract ''The Social Contract'', originally published as ''On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right'' (), is a 1762 French-language book by the Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book theorizes about how ...

''.

Modern edition

In 1978 an edition of the ''Essai'' by

Patrick Tort Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

was published, in a volume including an introduction by

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida;Peeters (2013), pp. 12–13. See also 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French Algerian philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, ...

. Derrida's contribution, ''Scribble'', was then separately translated into English, in 1979.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essai sur les hieroglyphes des Egyptiens 1744 non-fiction books 18th-century history books Books about the ancient Egyptian language