The Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, Esq.

Download or read book The Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, Esq. written by John James Halls and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1834 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The traveller and antiquary Henry Salt (1780-1827) hoped to become a portrait painter, but recognised his own limitations, and instead entered the employment of Viscount Valentia, embarking with him on an eastern tour in 1802. In 1805, Valentia sent him on a mission to improve relations with the rulers of Abyssinia. After a second expedition, this time on behalf of the British government, in which he made observations and collections of the local flora and fauna, he was appointed consul-general to Egypt, and in his spare time carried out excavations at Thebes and Abu Simbel. This two-volume work was published in 1834 by Salt's close friend, the painter J.J. Halls (1776-1853). Volume 2 describes Salt's later career in Egypt, as a diplomat and especially as a pioneering archaeologist, as well as his negotiations over the future of his own spectacular collection of Egyptian artefacts.--