Voyage dans la Basse et Haute Egypte : 1. Vue d'Ajaccio en Corse. 2. Vue de Fréjus. (Planche 91).<br />

Original in folio engraving untrimmed, from Vivant Denon's Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egypte.
Plate composed of 2 views described by the author as follows: No. 1. View of Ajaccio, small town that became famous for being the birthplace of a great man; I have represented our arrival there (see the Journal, volume II, page 341). No. 2. View of Fréjus, from the Aix gate side; I have represented the moment when the two frigates bringing Bonaparte back to France enter the port of this town; an event that belongs to history, and will become through it a more lasting monument than the Roman amphitheatre whose ruins can be seen in the foreground of the print.
Some foxing, otherwise fine condition.
First published in two volumes, including an atlas of engravings, by Didot in 1802, the 'Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte' was so successful that it was translated as early as 1803 into English and German, then a few years later into Dutch and Italian, among others. Almost all the plates are drawn by Denon, who also engraved a small number himself, notably portraits of Egyptian inhabitants, which have retained all the freshness of sketches taken from life (nos 104-111). Some twenty engravers also collaborated in creating the etchings, including Baltard, Galien, Réville and others.
Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon, known as Vivant Denon, born in Givry on January 4, 1747 and died in Paris on April 27, 1825, was a French engraver, writer, diplomat and administrator. At Bonaparte's invitation, he joined the Egyptian expedition, embarking on May 14, 1798 aboard the frigate "La Junon". Protected by French troops, he had the opportunity to travel throughout the country in all directions, gathering material that served as the basis for his most important artistic and literary work. He particularly accompanied General Desaix to Upper Egypt, from which he brought back numerous sketches, ink washes and other drawings in pen, black stone, or red chalk. He drew relentlessly, most often on his knee, standing or even on horseback, and sometimes even under enemy fire. After a 13-month journey during which he drew several thousand sketches, Vivant Denon returned to France with Bonaparte, and became the first artist to publish an account of this expedition. The 141 plates accompanying his Journal retrace his entire journey, from the coasts of Corsica to the pharaonic monuments of Upper Egypt. Bonaparte then appointed him director general of the central museum of the Republic, which became the Napoléon museum, then the royal museum of the Louvre, and administrator of the arts. In 1805, Vivant Denon relaunched the Vendôme column project, which had been suspended in 1803. He then organized expeditions throughout imperial Europe to amass art objects, which were plundered to be taken to the Louvre. In 1814, Louis XVIII confirmed him as head of the Louvre, one wing of which still bears his name today. He is considered a great precursor of museology, art history and Egyptology.