Illustrated first edition, featuring at the end of the volume two plates of inscriptions printed on tinted grounds.
Some tears and small losses to the corners of the spine and boards; the interior remains in pleasing condition.
Abbé Bargès (1810–1896), a native of Auriol, pursued an unconventional career marked by his exceptional command of Eastern languages (Hebrew, Arabic), and devoted himself in particular to epigraphy, while also engaging with other fields of study.
The Phoenician world held a special fascination for him, as he long defended the Punic origins of Marseille, and published six monographs on Phoenician-language inscriptions between 1847 and 1888; the present work forms part of this series, the unusual term "Egypto-Aramaean" then being used to designate epigraphic monuments written in Phoenician characters but discovered in Egypt.
Copy from the library of the archaeologist and diplomat Charles-Jean-Melchior de Vogüé (1829–1916), with a signed autograph inscription by Abbé Bargès at the head of the front cover.