Hieroglyphs Painted on Wood and Stone, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XL of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption below the image reads Beeld-schriften, op Hout en steen geschildert. in Dutch and Hiérogliphes, peints sur du bois et de la pierre. in French, meaning hieroglyphs painted on wood and on stone.

Inside a double ruled border the plate sets out several vertical strips of hieroglyphs, each copied as a separate piece and keyed by a capital letter. At the left, strip A is the longest, running almost the full height of the frame, with birds, eyes and water lines among its signs and a small standing figure at its foot. Beside it is strip B, then a shorter strip and a second short strip both marked D, a further strip D, and a small strip C at the upper right. The lower right quarter holds E, a larger fragment of four columns with a ragged, broken upper edge. Its signs are drawn bolder than the rest: birds, eyes, seated figures and vessels. At the foot of the columns stand four male figures in short kilts, two of them holding long staffs. The letters let the reader match each piece to its description in the text.

The plate carries no artist's or engraver's name. The plate number Tab: XL. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and top edges, with a gray mark at the lower left corner. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners are present.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.