Written in French
Department of Egyptian Antiquities
Jean-François Champollion - New illustrated edition, introduced and annotated by Sylvie Guichard
The definitive guide to the Louvre's Egyptian collection!
On December 15, 1827, the Charles X Museum opened, with Jean-François Champollion having been appointed its curator by a royal decree dated May 15, 1826. To mark this occasion, Champollion wrote a work that is now considered seminal: Notice descriptive des monuments égyptiens du Musée Charles X (Descriptive Notes on the Egyptian Monuments of the Charles X Museum), which remained the sole guide to the Egyptian museum until 1855. It offered visitors a concise description of the artifacts on display in the four galleries dedicated to ancient Egypt, located on the first floor of the south wing of the Cour Carrée, which constituted the Louvre Museum's first collection of Egyptian antiquities!
This first reprint of the guide, presented and annotated by Sylvie Guichard, includes the identification of over a thousand objects, listed with their inventory numbers, dates, and a recent photograph. A lengthy introduction, rich in historical facts-some of them previously unpublished-recalls the steps Champollion took to bring his project to fruition. This new illustrated edition should thus allow readers and visitors to appreciate the diversity and richness of the Egyptian Department from its inception, nearly two centuries ago.
