CAILLIAUD, Frédéric (1787-1869). Voyage à Méroé, au Fleuve Blanc, au-delâ de Fâzoq dans le midi du royaume de Sennâr, à Syouah et dans cinq autres oasis; fait dans les années 1819, 1820, 1821 et 1822. Accompagné de cartes géographiques, de planches représentant les monuments de ces contrées, avec des détails relatifs à l'état moderne et à l'histoire naturelle. Four text volumes 8° (217x135 mm) and two atlas volumes folio (500x340 mm). Atlas volumes with 149 lithographed resp. engraved plates and maps (of which one double, numbered 54 and 55); text volumes with 12 hand-coloured costume plates and 3 plates of epigraphic specimens. Text volumes with the original printed wrappers, entirely uncut; atlas volumes in contemporary half roan gilt with orange lettering and numbering pieces. Wrapper of first volume split at front joint with small tear in one corner; atlas volumes somewhat rubbed or scuffed at edges, joints split on vol. 2. Somewhat foxed in places. Paris, Rignoux, 1823 (atlas) resp. Imprimerie Royale, 1826-1827 (text). 

Fascinated by the discoveries of the Napoleonic campaign to Egypt, Frédéric Cailliaud first reached the land of the pharaohs at the beginning of 1815. On his return to France in 1819, he sold his mineralogical and archaeological collections and communicated his notes to Edme-François Jomard, who published them under his own name in 1821. Thanks to his governmental and scientific contacts, Cailliaud was able to undertake a second trip to Egypt. He left France in September 1819 in the company of Pierre-Constant Letorzec, in charge of astronomical measurements. Admitted to the military expedition of Ismail Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali, the two men went up the Nile as far as Fazoql (south of Sennar, on the Blue Nile, present-day Sudan) and discovered along the way the remains of the ancient civilization of Meroë. Cailliaud produced the first scientific work of the region accompanied by a superb collection of plates. Following the example of the great travellers of the Age of Enlightenment, exploring the world with frenzy, he gives an account of everything: precise geographical descriptions, observations on geography and natural history, the vocabularies of the different languages, a nomenclature of places in Arabic, remarks on morals and customs, etc. (cf. Schlup).

"His Travels to Meroë (mer-oh-ay) not only offered similarly pioneering information on the peoples and regions south of the Niles first cataract, but also constituted the first scientific survey of Sudanese monuments. In addition, he brought back a large corpus of correctly copied textual material that, along with objects in his newly acquired collection, helped the historian Jean-François Champollion decipher the hieroglyphic language of ancient Egypt. So esteemed were Cailliauds contributions to knowledge that in 1824 he was awarded the French Legion of Honor" (A. Bednarski & W. Benson Harer, The Explorations of Frédéric Cailliaud, Saudi Aramco World, January-February 2013, p. 36). Cailliaud's desciptions and views are still of enormous importance, because many monuments were destroyed shortly after he had seen them.
The copy is inscribed by Cailliaud to the French general and politician, Joseph Edouard de La Motte-Rouge (1804-1883), who had a decisive role in the battle of Solferino. The presentation reads: Au Général de Lamotterouge hommage de F. Cailliaud 16 Nb. 1857.

Provenance: Joseph Edouard de La Motte-Rouge, presentation dated 16th November 1857.

Bibliographie: Chadenat, 2066; Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 113f.; Hage Chahine, Levant, 758; BAL I, 521 (with detailed collation); Blackmer 269; Gay 2572; Schlup, Explorateurs, pp. 119-134.

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