The Great Belzoni: The Circus Strongman Who Discovered Egypt's Ancient Treasures (International Library of Historical Studies)

345 Pages·2003·14.55 MB·English

by  Stanley Mayes

THE GREAT BELZONI
Stanley Mayes was a widely respected broadcaster, political
commentator for the BBC Overscas Service and BBC \Vorld
Service and a freelance journalist. He was working on his fifth
book about Charles James Fox at the time of his de;~thi n 1992.
T H E GREAT BELZONI
The Circus Strongman lvho Dir~owedE gypt i
Ann'ent Treasures
STANLEY MAYES
Published in 2003 by Tauris Parke Paperbacks
an imprint of I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
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Copyright O Stanley Mayes, 1959, 2003
The right of Stanley Mayes to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 186064 877 0
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record for this book is available frorn the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
To My Daughter
DAPHNE

CONTENTS
PREFACE page 11
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I1
CHAPTER I11
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI1
CHAPTER XI11
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
NOTES page 297
BIBLIOGRAPHY page 321
APPENDIX A page 329
APPENDIX B page 333
INDEX page 335
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI
Drawn on stone by M. Gauci and lithographed by C. Hullmandel.
Frontispiece to Belzoni's Narrative (1820) frontispiece
I. OLD SADLER'S WELLS AND THE NEW RIVER,
1813
Engraving from the Crace Collection of Views of London, British
Museum
2. A SCENE FROM 'PHILIP QUARLL'
Water-colour drawing (artist unknown) in the Percival Collection of
material relating to Sadler's Wells (Vol. VII), British Museum
3. BELZONI'S HUMAN PYRAMID
Water-colour drawing by R. H. Norman (Pantaloon) in the Percival
Collection of material relating to Sadler's Wells (Vol. 111), British
Museum
4. A MOSQUE NEAR ROSETTA
Engraving from Dominique Vivant Denon's Voyage duns la Basse
et la Haute Egypte
5. GRAND CAIRO FROM THE CITADEL
Coloured lithograph from Henry Salt's collection of his own water-
colour sketches, Twenty-four Views (1809)
6. HENRY SALT
Engraving from J. J. Halls's The Life and Correspondence of Henry
Salt (1834)
7. BERNARDINO DROVETTI
Engraving from Atti della Reale Accademia della Scienze di Torino
(1935)
8. JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT
Engraving from J. L. Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia (1819)
9. GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI
Engraved by F. C. Lewis from a sketch by William Brockedon,
1824. The proof in the Percival Collection has written on it: 'I
affirm this to be a Correct Likeness of Giovanni Belzoni' and the
signature 'R. H. Norman'
10. MOVING THE MEMNON HEAD
Coloured lithograph from Belzoni's Six New Plates (1822). From
an original water-colour by Belzoni
11. VIEW OF LUXOR
Engraving from the Napoleonic Description de l'EgYpte (1808-25)
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU
Engraving from the Description de Z'ggypte (1808-25)
DROVETTI AND HIS ENTOURAGE AT THEBES
Engraving from the Comte de Forbin's Voyage dans le Levant
(1819). It is tempting to suppose that the other European is Rifaud
THE FACADE AT ABU SIMBEL
Original drawing by Belzoni. Preserved in the City Museum,
Bristol
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TEMPLES AT ABU
SIMBEL
Original drawing, presumably by William John Bankes. In the
Bankes MSS. at the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
THE BLACK AND PAINTED MEN
Coloured lithograph of a painted bas-relief in Seti 1's tomb, from
Belzoni's Forty-four Plates (1820). From an original water-colour
drawing by Dr. A. Ricci
SETI IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GODS
Coloured lithograph of a painted bas-relief in Seti 1's tomb, from
Belzoni's Forty-four Plates (1820). From an original water-colour
drawing by Belzoni
SECTION OF THE TOMB OF SETI I
Part of a coloured lithograph from Belzoni's Forty-four Plates
(1820)~s howing the 'well', the upper and lower pillared halls and
the burial-chamber. From an original water-colour drawing by Dr.
A. Ricci
GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI
Oil-painting by William Brockedon. In the National Portrait
Gallery
THE EGYPTIAN HALL, PICCADILLY
Engraving from the Crace Collection of Views of London, British
Museum
BELZONI'S EXHIBITION
Coloured lithograph (artist unknown) in the Percival Collection of
material relating to Sadler's Wells (Vol. XIV), British Museum
THE HEAD OF RAMSES I1
Photograph of the mummy in the Cairo Museum. From G. E.
Smith's The Royal Mummies (1912)
THE HEAD OF SETI I
Photograph of the mummy in the Cairo Museum. From G. E.
Smith's The Royal Mummies (1912)
THE SARCOPHAGUS OF SETI I IN SIR JOHN
SOANE'S MUSEUM
Engraving from John Britton's The Union of Architecture, Sculpture
and Painting (1828)