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An original 1898 first-edition Translation volume from E. A. Wallis Budge\'s major scholarly edition of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, published while Budge was Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum.
Known to the ancient Egyptians as the Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, these funerary texts were intended to guide and protect the deceased through the afterlife. Budge\'s publication brought together material from numerous surviving papyri of the Theban recension and became one of the best-known early English scholarly treatments of ancient Egyptian funerary religion.
The volume contains Budge\'s extensive historical introduction, covering the history of the Book of the Dead, Osiris and resurrection, the Judgment, the Elysian Fields, the magical character of the texts and their purpose, followed by the translated Chapters of Coming Forth by Day.
The volume has been physically collated by the seller and all 21 illustrations listed in the book are present: 3 coloured plates and all 18 monochrome plates, I–XVIII.
The three striking coloured plates reproduce scenes associated with the celebrated Papyrus of Ani, including the Judgment Scene with the weighing of Ani\'s heart, the Funeral Procession, and the Sekhet-Hetepu or Elysian Fields.
The eighteen additional plates reproduce Egyptian material from sarcophagi and numerous papyri, including the Papyri of Ani, Nebseni, Nu, Hu-nefer, Netchemet, Anhai and others represented in the British Museum collections.
Of particular interest, a number of leaves remain unopened at the upper edge, retaining their original uncut folds. These pages have never been opened for reading and have deliberately been left untouched rather than cut by the seller.
The book retains its original dark cloth binding with gilt spine lettering. The main translated text concludes at page 354, followed by the printed Errata.
A substantial original Victorian Egyptological publication, particularly attractive for its surviving colour plates and the presence of unopened leaves.
Please note that this is the Translation volume only from the original multi-volume publication and not the complete multi-volume set.
Please examine all photographs carefully for the exact condition and contents of this copy.
