Description: Discoveries in the Ruins ofNineveh and Babylon; with Travels in Armenia, Kurdistan and the Desert: beingthe Result of a Second Expedition undertaken for the British Museum. With hand written letter, signed.LAYARD, Austen Henry. John Murray, AlbemarleStreet, 1853. 8vo. ,First edition. Magnificent copy in very rare condition. Worthy of the centerpiece in a collection of Layard books. Original brown cloth, overall image of Assyrian monument blind-stamped to covers and spine, lettered in gilt to spine; pp. xxiii, 686, [2,advertisements]; 8 tinted lithographs, one uncolored lithographic plate of Assyrian script, 2 folding engraved plates, 2 large folding maps and 3 folding plans, numerous wood-engravings (some full-page) in the text; Original embossed cloth with a magnificent overall cover design based on the Great Winged Bull. Not only is this a classic of archaeology but it is also a great travel narrative. Interior is bright and clean. Binder's sticker on rear pastedown. Minimal marking to cloth, minor folding to spine ends, corners are sharp with very minimal handling, back hinge is cracked and tender, minor tears where the maps attach, else an exceptionally good and clean copy. Exceedingly rare in this condition. Includes a a hand written letter signed by Layard on House of Commons notepaper. Layard's discoveries, made on his first expedition to Mesopotamia during the years 1842-7 and described in his Nineveh and its Remains of 1849, met with popular acclaim back in Britain. Inconsequence, the British Museum funded a second expedition, of which Layard gives an account in the present work. This enabled Layard to return innumerable cuneiform documents from the 'King's Library' at the Kuyunijk Mound near Mosul, the eventual decipherment of which proved conclusively that ancient Nineveh had been located there. The binding is a three-dimensional representation of a colossal statue of a winged bull (lamassu), similar to the ones kept in the British Museum. It was produced by Remnant & Edmonds, who employed Owen Jones as designer and produced the cloth bindings for Murray's Darwins. Blackmer 969.
Price: 1875 USD
Location: Parkville, Maryland
End Time: 2025-01-04T15:03:56.000Z
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Binding: Cloth
Unit Type: Unit
Language: English
Special Attributes: Illustrated
Signed: Yes
Author: Austen Layard
Publisher: John Murray
Topic: Archeology
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Subject: Nineveh and Babylon
Original/Facsimile: Original
Year Printed: 1853
