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3 volumes. xx, 292, [1]; x, 368, [1]; xii, 148 pp. With 125 plates (all but one lithographed), 25 of them folding or double-page; 3 double-page maps. (4to) 11¼x7¼, modern full green morocco, red morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers. First Edition.

First edition of the seminal work on Egyptology, the contemporary companion piece to the work by Perring, the unveiling of the Great Pyramids of Egypt to the world, and their first scientific investigation. Richard William Howard Vyse (1784-1853), an army officer who eventually rose to major-general, visited Egypt and Syria in 1835, and became engrossed with the pyramids, and began exploring and excavating them. In January of 1837 he obtained the assistance of John Shae Perring, and upon Vyse's return to England he provided funds for Perring's subsequent investigations to the south of Gizeh and at Abu Roash, which are covered in the third volume of the work. The wealth of information is incredible, and the many illustrations, maps and plans gave to the world for the first time a glimpse of the magnitude and amazing attributes of the pyramids. The third volume was published by John Weale & G.W. Nickisson.