Folio. Volume I: TEXT, vii, 324 pp./ Volume II: TEXT, 323 pp / Volume III: PLATES, viii, 87 engraved plates including a map of Assyria and 86 engraved plates (photo- engraving lines), of which 15 are enhanced by hand colour and 10 printed on double-page, half-titles, contemporary quarter calf, slightly rubbed, title gilt on spine, small library stamp on title page, scattered foxing throughout, small tear to top of plate 61 without any loss, small tear to front fly leaves of volumes 1 & 3, otherwise set in very good condition, Imprimerie Imperiale, Paris, first and only edition, 1867-1870.

Synopsis

The Discovery of the Assyrians. The excavations of Nineveh were conducted between 1851 and 1855 by Victor Place (1818-1875), Consul of France in Mosul. The French state had just voted a credit to continue the work begun by the other pioneer of Assyriology, Paul-Emile Botta (born in Corbeil, France in 1811) at the site of Khorasabad, and they nominated Place to succeed him. Place started his excavation at the site of Kuyundjik where he found a large quantity of antiquities; he resumed the excavation clearing about two hundred rooms in the palace of Khorasabd and here, too, found numerous stone wall with reliefs and statues – most of which were lost in 1855, on their way to Europe, when the ships were attacked by rebellious Iraqi Tribesmen near Qurana. From the 235 boxes of antiquities, consisting of what Victor Place had discovered, together with material found by the British and by Fulgence Frensel Mission (1852-53), only 28 boxes arrived.
Victor Place was the first to use photography for archaeological purposes, choosing as an operator engineer Gabriel Tranchand for the calotypes (negatives and prints). The architect Felix Thomas, a future painter, was commissioned to survey and design plans of the architectural remains. These drawings survived the attack and have served to illustrate the book. The text is the first synthesis of all knowledge of Assyria and the famous palace of King Sargon II. (Avery, Architectural Library, p. 790.- Vicaire VI, 698).