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Jean Francois Champollion

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
Jean Francois Champollion

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Auction Date:2017 Jun 14 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
French scholar (1790–1832) who published the first translation of the Rosetta Stone hieroglyphs in 1822. Incredible handwritten hieroglyphic manuscript by Jean-Francois Champollion, unsigned, one page, 8 x 12.25, no date but circa 1828–1830. The manuscript is penned on the reverse of a page of bibliographical notes on the naturalist Lacepede written by Etienne Pariset, who befriended Champollion while in Egypt to study the spread of infectious disease. In the manuscript, Champollion first explains the way in which the hieroglyphics are read: under the word “fig,” he draws a walking man; under the word “symbol,” he draws legs in movement; and under the word “phone,” the Egyptian verb “to come.” This first line reveals the complex mechanism of the hieroglyphic system, which uses the figurative, symbolic, and phonetic all at once. Below this, he writes a sentence in hieroglyphics with its translation in French just below, group by group: “Happy life to you, amiable friend of mine.” He then writes the Egyptian verb “to open,” which he transcribes “ouin,” and also transliterates to Coptic. On the side, he writes the verb “to have thirst,” transcribed beside “ib” with two variants. To the lower right is a series of figures in different attitudes, similar to that which appears on the third page of the first edition of Champollion's Grammaire Egyptienne [Egyptian Grammar]. At the bottom is a long hieroglyphic sentence that resembles certain hymns of the sun, “I adore Re when it rises and illuminates all the lands by its rays [followed by a problematic sign with translation below “so that”] he gives me a beautiful burial in his house of eternity.” In fine condition, with a central horizontal fold and light soiling. Written by Champollion while in Egypt to verify in situ the veracity of his discoveries related to hieroglyphics, this manuscript suggests preparatory notes for his important work Egyptian Grammar, which was published posthumously in 1836. Any autographic material from Champollion is exceedingly rare, and this is obviously an absolutely spectacular specimen.