Le Tissage aux Cartons et Son Utilisation Décorative dans L'Égypte Ancienne

Neuchâtel: Delachaux & Niestlé S.A., Éditeurs, 1916. Signed limited edition of a scarce title on ancient Egyptian textiles, numbered 77 of 125 copies, signed by the authors on the colophon, and published as part of the series Mémoires d'Archéologie et d'Ethnographie Comparées. (An additional twenty-five lettered copies were printed, not intended for sale.) The book's line drawings and tipped-in color plates, along with a sample sheet reproducing five woven silk bands of the period, display the breadth and skill of early Egyptian through Coptic weavers, highlighting their characteristic use of materials, colors, and patterns. The authors argue that the ancient Egyptians used tablets ("cartons," or cards) as their primary weaving device, a technology used in 1200-1500 BCE Europe and Scandinavia. This theory has been disproven: the Egyptians did, in fact, use looms. Text in French. BnF 1199; 5515. A very nearly fine copy of a key visual sourcebook of Egyptian textile design in its highly decorative publisher's binding. Folio, measuring 13 x 9.5 inches: [6], 7-130, [4]. Original color patterned linen-covered boards, brown endpapers, red silk ribbon marker. Illustrated with five tipped-in color plates, six photographic plates, one plate with five mounted woven silk fabric samples, and 135 illustrations throughout text. Faint spotting to foot of spine, deaccession stamps (Museum für Völkerkunde, Basel) and note to half-title.