The Egyptian Society. 385 



by thvose who may wish for more full and precise information pre- 

 viously to subscribing. 



'^ The amount of subscription will be taken by instalments of 

 sums not exceeding five pounds, and at intervals not shorter than 

 three months," 



THE EGYPTIAN SOCIETY. 



The object which this Society has in view, and which is cer- 

 tainly an important one, will be understood from the following 

 JProspectus of a work to be entitled, Hieroglyphics collected by 

 the Egyptian Society. — The triple inscription of Rosetta having 

 afforded a prospect of the partial interpretation of the Egyptian 

 hieroglyphics in general, it becomes a matter of high importance, 

 for the advancement of literature and of the study of antiquities, to 

 collect and preserve all the remains of the Hieroglyphical Inscrip- 

 tions and Manuscripts which have hitherto escaped the injuries 

 of time. For this purpose, the efforts of a single individual would 

 probably be too feeble, and the duration of a single life might 

 possibly be too short : but it may be effected with much more 

 ease, and with far greater certainty, by the continued co-opera- 

 tion of a select Society determined to keep it constantly in view. 



" The process of lithography affords a ready mode of obtaining 

 a moderate number of copies of a drawing at a cheap rate. The 

 object of this collection being to exhibit perfectly correct repre- 

 sentations of the greatest possible extent of materials for a limited 

 sum, the introduction of any unnecessary ornament would ob- 

 viously be inconsistent with its complete attainment; and the 

 delineation of all works of art, as such, must, for the same reason, 

 be excluded. 



" It will naturally be desirable to select, in the first instance, 

 in order for their permanent preservation, such inscriptions and 

 manuscripts as have not yet been published ; but it is intended 

 that the work should ultimately comprehend every thing of the kind 

 that can be obtained ; not only because some of the most important 

 materials are thinly scattered through a variety of magnificent 

 and expensive works, but also because such a collection would 

 afford a very great convenience, both for study and for reference, 

 even to those who are already possessed of the original works 

 which contain them. 



" In order to avoid the introduction of arbitrary hvpotheses and 

 erroneous conclusions, no commentaries, nor even any particular 

 nomenclature, \\4ill he admitted into this series of hieroglyphics. 

 It was indeed in conten)))lation to have begun the work with a 

 copy of the Inscription of Rosetta, subdivided, and liaving the 

 parallel passages of the three texts printed together, according to 

 the arrangement of the anonymous translation published in the 

 Archoiologia ; but it has been thought more advisable to defer this 



Vol. 54. No. 259. iV^jy. 1819. Bb comparison 



