BUDGE’S MONUMENTAL EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC DICTIONARY, FIRST EDITION, 1920

BUDGE, Sir E.A. Wallis. An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary. London: John Murray, 1920. Thick quarto, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco gilt, raised bands, hieroglyphic gilt-stamped front board, marbled endpapers and edges. $2800.

First edition of Budge’s impressive dictionary of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, bound as one volume in contemporary morocco-gilt.

Keeper of the British Museum's Department of Oriental Antiquities, "Budge enjoyed great success as a collector of papyri, statues, stelae, inscribed clay tablets and other artifacts… The total number of items with which he enriched the Museum's collections runs to several thousand, many of them of major importance" (DNB). In this massive dictionary, Budge presents nearly 24,000 forms of Egyptian words, collected from texts dating between the Third Dynasty (circa 2650–2575 BCE) and Roman times. Budge's lengthy introduction "is of great interest to the historian of science," rehearsing the development of Egyptian lexicography and explaining "how the transliterated alphabet changed as knowledge increased" (George Sarton, contemporary review, Isis, Vol. IV, 1921, page 58). With dedicatory color plate. Also issued bound as two volumes (with title pages stating "in two volumes"). Bookplate of St. Paul's Cathedral library.

Interior clean. Mild rubbing to spine ends and extremities; front board gilt bright. Near-fine condition.