Esne (Latopolis.) Vue Perspective de l'Interieur du Portique. by ESNE) Jollois et Devilliers (del). Engraved by Sellier - Ca. 1820.

Paris.: Panckouke.. Ca. 1820.. Copper plate engraving (uncolored), plate area 18 x 23 3/4 inches on sheet size approximately 21 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches. Four inch tear to mid upper edge (entering 2 inches into the image), foxing to outer margins. Publisher's blindstamp at top right. A particularly handsome image of the portico of the Temple of Esne with the exquisite decoration of the columns and walls highlighted by sunlight filtering from the entrance. This very large, finely engraved image is plate 83 from Volume I of the Antiquities section of the monumental publication "Description de L'Egypte," which documented the research of the "savants" who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte's ambitious expedition to Egypt (1798-1801). The full title, translated into English reads "Description of Egypt, or the collection of observations and research made in Egypt during the Expedition of the French Army" hinting at the varied purposes of this foray into the Middle East. The European demand for information about Egypt and its glorious monuments led to the publication of two editions of the work, with engravings pulled from the same printing plates; this is from the second edition, uncolored as issued. .