The Early History of Egypt: Containing The Old Testament History…

VALE, Rev. B. 

The Early History of Egypt: Containing The Old Testament History… 

London: Thomas Hatchard, [c.1850]

8vo., contemporary or very near-contemporary binding of brown cloth over boards; pale yellow endpapers; red speckled edges; pp. [v], 5-121, [i]; containing numerous tables, illustrations, and examples of hieroglyphics, including two folding plates (showing how the Book of Genesis might have been originally written in hieroglyphs and a representation of a circular zodiac, respectively); cloth rubbed and sunned to edges with some chipping to spine tips and a small crack along the outer lower hinge; small blue shelf mark to front paste down; previous owner’s name in black ink to half title; a little toned, internally, with a couple of brown spots; very good. 

Benjamin Vale (1788-1863) was an English clergyman who was ordained in 1813, and became rector of Longton, Staffordshire, between 1839-63. Many of his papers were destroyed in a fire at his Longton rectory, but he continued to publish his sermons and devotional books, interspersed with works on geology, ancient history, Druidism, logic, botany and the Zodiac. The present example represents a scarce account of how Biblical history may have been recorded in ancient Egyptian stone and monuments, containing depictions of life after death, how marriage ceremonies may have been conducted, and a history of the kings and pharaohs of Egypt. 

Only a handful of institutional copies located, 4 in the UK.