Pencil, pen, ink and wash on album paper, some heightened in white, all but one signed by the artists on the lower margins, some with additional pencil notes and captions on the lower margins. See detailed descriptions and sizes below. All drawings matted in recent mats and housed in a custom made brown full cloth box with a gilt lettered title label on the spine, decorative brass corners on the upper board and brass clasps. Overall a fine collection of beautiful drawings.

A beautiful collection of nine original drawings created by prominent German and Austrian artists of the “oriental” genre for the famous lavishly illustrated work “Aegypten in Bild und Wort” by a noted German Egyptologist and novelist Georg Ebers (1837-1898). The drawings were made from nature, as all the artists had travelled to Egypt and worked there for longer or shorter periods. Among the drawings are three works by Wilhelm Gentz (1822-1890), and one by his son Ismael Wolfgang Gentz (1862-1914). The drawings were made during their journey to Egypt and the Holy Land in the late 1870s. There are also three drawings by an Austrian artist in “oriental” genre Leopold Müller (1834-1892) who lived and worked in Egypt in 1873-76, and two by Charles Feodor Welsch (1828-1904), who travelled to Egypt in 1874. The drawings are accompanied by copies of the two-volume sets of the first German and first English editions of Ebers’ work. Overall a very nice collection of beautiful original drawings.

List of drawings:
1) GENTZ, Wilhelm. Hof des Antiquitäten-Museums zu Bulak [Court of the Museum of Antiquities at Bulaq]. Pen and wash on paper. Ca. 29,5x25 cm (11 ½ x 10 in), leaf ca. 39x34 cm (15 ½ x 13 ¼ in). Signed in ink in the left lower corner, with period pencil and ink notes on the lower margin. Published in: vol. II, p. 49 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 40 (English ed.).

2) GENTZ, Wilhelm. Hafen von Bulak [Harbour of Bulaq]. Pen and wash on paper. Ca. 23,5x32 cm (9 ¼ x 12 ¾ in), leaf ca. 33x38,5 cm (13 x 15 ¼ in). Signed in the right lower corner, with an ink caption on the lower margin. Published in: vol. II, p. 165 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 147 (English ed.).

3) GENTZ, Wilhelm. In den Nil geführte Büffel [Buffaloes Watered in the Nile]. Pen and wash on paper. Ca. 29x36 cm (11 x 14 ¼ in), leaf ca. 33x41,5 cm (13 x 16 ¼ in). Signed in ink in the right lower corner, with an ink note underneath. Published in: vol. II, p. 227 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 204 (English ed.).

4) GENTZ, Ismael. Des Vaters Liebling [Father’s Darling].Pencil and charcoal on paper, heightened in white. Ca. 18x16 cm (7 x 6 ¼ in), leaf ca. 33,5x25 cm (13 ¼ x 10 in). Signed in pencil in the right lower corner, with an ink note underneath. Published in: vol. II, p. 97 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 86 (English ed.).

5) MÜLLER, Leopold. Besprengung der Straße [Watering the Roads]. Ink on paper. Ca. 15x11,5 cm (6 x 4 ½ in), leaf ca. 24,5x16 cm (9 ½ x 6 ¼ in). Signed in the right lower corner. Published in: vol. I, p. 47 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 43 (English ed.).

6) MÜLLER, Leopold. Sarrâf oder Wechsler [Sarraf, or Money-Changer].Ink on paper. Ca. 19x13,5 cm (7 ½ x 5 ¼ in), mounted on a larger leaf ca. 32,5x23,5 cm (13x9 in). Signed in the right lower corner, pencil note on the lower margin of mount. Published in: vol. I, p. 55 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 49 (English ed.).

7) MÜLLER, Leopold. Hirte in der Wüste [Herdsman in the Desert].Pen and wash on paper. Ca. 13,5x21 cm (5 ¼ x 8 ¼ in), mounted on a larger leaf ca. 25x33,5 cm (10 x 13 ¼ in). Signed in ink in the left lower corner, pencil note on the lower margin of mount. Published in: vol. I, p. 108 (German ed.), vol. I, p. 95 (English ed.).

8) WELSCH, Charles Feodor. Alt-Kairo [Old Cairo]. Pencil and charcoal on paper, heightened in white. Ca. 25x19 cm (9 ¾ x 7 ½ in), mounted on a larger leaf ca. 45x31 cm (17 ¾ x 12 ¼ in). Not signed, a pencil and ink notes on the lower margin of the mount. Published in: vol. I, p. 225 (German ed.), vol. II, leaf facing p. 193 (English ed.).

9) WELSCH, Charles Feodor. Am Nilufer [On the Bank of the Nile]. Pencil and watercolour on paper. Ca. 27x17 cm (10 ½ x 7 ½ in), leaf ca. 45,5x35 cm (18x14 in). Signed in the left lower corner, a pencil note on the lower margin of the mount. Published in: vol. I, p. 377 (German ed.), vol. II, p. 340 (English ed.).

First German edition: EBERS, G. Ägypten in Wort und Bild. Stuttgart & Leipzig: Hallberger, 1879-1880. 2 vols. Folio. (ca. 38,5x31 cm). [8], vi, [2], 387; xii, 432 pp. With two chromolithographed maps and numerous woodcut illustrations in text. Original publisher’s brown full cloth with rich gilt tooled ornaments on the upper board and the spine, decorated with blue beads; marbled papered endpapers, all edges gilt. Binding slightly rubbed on extremities, corners slightly bumped, several beads on the front cover missing, but overall a very good copy. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 205; Kainbacher 111; Rümann, 19. Jh. 144.

First English edition: EBERS, G. Egypt: descriptive, historical, and picturesque. Translated from the original German by Clara Bell. With an introduction and notes by S. Birch. London, Paris & New York: Cassell, [1880s]. 2 vols. Folio (ca. 38,5x29,5 cm). Xxiv, 314, [4]; xxii, 388, [4] pp. With two frontispieces, 29 woodcut plates and numerous woodcut illustrations in text. Original publisher’s brown full cloth with gilt tooled and colour stamped ornaments, as well as gilt lettered titles on the upper board and the spine, all edges gilt. Binding slightly rubbed on extremities, corners slightly bumped, but overall a very good copy. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 206ff.