Egypt's Place in Universal History. An Historical Investigation in Five Books. Translated from the German by Charles H. Cottrell
London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848 and 1854 (first editions into English).
Octavo, two volumes (the first two volumes of five), lvi, 740, 32 (publisher's catalogue) pages with numerous tables and illustrations plus 8 lithographs (including the tinted frontispiece); and xl (last blank), 646, 24 (publisher's catalogue) pages with numerous tables and illustrations plus 26 lithographs (including the frontispiece) and a large folding table.
Blind-decorated cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, all edges uncut; cloth a little rubbed and bumped; spines sunned; endpapers of the first volume a little marked and offset; occasional light foxing; trifling signs of use and age (including a later name-stamp on both front flyleaves; in excellent condition (the second volume is substantially unopened).
Mounted on the front pastedown of each volume is the armorial bookplate of the British heiress and book collector Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1785-1861). She 'was England's earliest female bibliophile and was described by Dibdin as the "head of all female book collectors in Europe"' (University of Glasgow exhibition, 'Owned by Women, online). 'It has been speculated that Currer was a benefactor of the Brontë sisters and this is the reason that Charlotte Brontë chose the nom de plume of "Currer Bell" for her novel "Jane Eyre"' (Wikipedia, referencing 'The Wilsons of Eshton', a brochure issued by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society). The translation of the five-volume set into English took 20 years to publish, not being completed until six years after the death of Frances Currer. [2 items].
Item #115988
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