AMEILHON (Hubert-Pascal).

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AMEILHON (Hubert-Pascal).
Enlightenment on the Greek inscription of the monument found at Rosetta, containing a decree of the priests of Egypt in honour of Ptolemy Epiphany, the fifth of the Ptolemaic kings. Paris, Baudouin, Floréal An XI (1803). In-4, paperback, untrimmed and partly uncut, cover of marbled paper of the period with title label on the back. Original edition, decorated with a large folding plate engraved on copper. Important memorial on the famous Rosetta Stone: it contains the first French translation of the Greek inscription of the stele, and one of the very first printed reproductions - here partial - of this monument. The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 by a French officer of the Eastern army, aroused the curiosity of the European scientific community at the time, which immediately set out to unravel its mystery. Although the deciphering of the demotic part of the inscription was only solved in 1822 by Champollion, the study of the Greek part gave rise to various publications as early as 1802. It was Ameilhon (1758-1838), historian and member of the Institute, who was commissioned to replace La Porte du Theil to study the Greek part of the inscription. He presented his work to the Institute at the beginning of 1801 and published it two years later in this memoir: we find in it the Greek text of the inscription transcribed in cursive characters, with its "very literal" Latin interpretation, and a continuous translation into French of the entire inscription (cf. Bénédicte Savoy, "Objet d'observation et d'intelligence"... in Études germaniques, 2009/4, n°256, pp. 799-819, and Wallis Budge, The Rosetta Stone, 1989). Copy as published, bound under its pretty marbled paper waiting cover. Some slight reddening.
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