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George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon. Autograph manuscript, "The Tomb of King Tut Ankh-Amen." No place, no date [circa ...
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Description
Lord Carnarvon's handwritten account of the discovery and opening of King Tutankhamun's Tomb, the most dramatic event in the history of archaeological exploration
George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon. Autograph manuscript,
"The Tomb of King Tut Ankh-Amen." No place, no date
[circa late 1922]. Eleven pages, each measuring 7.5 x 9.9
inches, written in ink on rectos only (first two leaves with
manuscript text on verso). Numerous newspaper editorial markings in
pencil and blue wax pencil, including repairs where the manuscript
was divided, evidently to be given to different compositors;
scattered foxing and soiling, other general wear, each page with
small purple ink stamp "M" to top margin. Housed in custom full red
morocco clamshell case, decorated and lettered in gilt."...I received a call telling me that he had at last struck something very promising - 'A tomb closed & sealed'..."
After a motorcar accident in 1903 left Lord Carnarvon with strict orders to winter outside of England, the Earl and his wife often spent England's colder months in Egypt. Here, the Earl fell in love with Egyptology and began collecting Egyptian artifacts. Not content to only collect material already on the market, Lord Carnarvon first sponsored his own excavations in 1907, under the management of Howard Carter. The pair's work quickly caught public attention. In 1905, a few years before Lord Carnarvon started his own excavations, noted archeologist Theodore Davis began excavations on the western bank of the Nile River, opposite the ancient city of Thebes (known now as Luxor), in an area called the Valley of Kings. By 1914, after four or five years of largely unsuccessful digs, Davis believed the Valley to be exhausted of finds. He gave up his concession to dig in the Valley of Kings and passed the work to Carnarvon and Carter. Eager to prove Davis and the bulk of their colleagues wrong, the team spent eight fruitless seasons (at one point interrupted temporarily during WWI) searching for Tutankhamun's tomb, against "the almost universal opinion of archaeologists... that this locality was practically exhausted."
"Arriving in Luxor we at once started operations... At the bottom of the staircase we came upon a wall covered with seals. Some bore the name of Tutankhamen..."
On November 7, 1922, Carnarvon received word from Carter that, "he had at last struck something very promising - a tomb closed and sealed." Carnarvon traveled directly to the site and was present when the outer stairs were cleared; in this manuscript he describes his first view of the incredible discovery: "...At the bottom of the staircase we came upon a wall covered with seals. Some bore the name of Tutankhamen whilst on others the Royal seal... It then became apparent that the tomb had certainly been opened if not plundered in ancient days & had been resealed by the officials of the Necropolis. After affixing a moveable wooden grill over the door, a task that took all one day, we proceeded to clear the passage... At the end of the now cleared passage another sealed door was visible. After taking a photograph we decided to take down a small portion. This was done and by the uncertain light of a candle a wonderful sight was exposed to our excited eyes. Gilt couches, boxes of all sorts and other objects in the dim light were just visible...We had at first thought that our find was a hiding place or 'cache' where we should probably find some royal & semi-royal mummies... but the more we examined the contents of this first chamber the more convinced we became that it was the tomb of King Tutankhamen..."
Carnarvon continues for several pages to describe many of the objects, "the most wonderful Egyptian works of art ever found." On page nine of the manuscript he describes finding "at the northern end between the two statues of the King a walled & plastered up entrance again covered with the royal cartouche & the seal of the necropolis...In all probability behind that wall we shall come to the funerary chamber of King Tutankhamen & should we be fortunate enough to find his sarcophagus & coffins undisturbed, then those that are privileged to be present will look upon a sight that has never yet been witnessed by any living person." Carnarvon concludes his account with praise for Carter: "In conclusion I must say that most of the credit for the discovery is due to my friend Howard Carter who when after many seasons of failure & disappointment I got more & more despondent backed me up & persuaded me to go on excavating until as related above his theories were proved to be right & at last were brought to a successful issue."
Aside from making archeological history, the manuscript itself has a colorful history, having been the focus of a vicious newspaper war among the London dailies, vying for the rights to publish the first account of the excavation of King Tut's tomb. The present manuscript is the handwritten account, by Lord Carnarvon himself, of the highly coveted story, published in London's The Daily Mail, on December 18, 1922. The Daily Mail's introduction to the article reads:
"THE WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT.
________
LORD CARNARVON'S OWN COMPLETE ACCOUNT.
We are able to print to-day a complete account by the Earl of Carnarvon of the wonderful discovery of ancient royal treasures he and his assistant, Mr. Howard Carter, have made in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, Egypt. Lord Carnarvon arrived in London yesterday afternoon, accompanied by his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert. He wrote the following article during the journey home, and very kindly gave it to The Daily Mail for publication. He gives new details of the funeral treasures of Tut-ankh Amen [sic], Kind of Egypt from 1358 to 1350 B.C., including life-sized portrait statues and carved alabaster vases 30 inches high, and says such exquisite taste and finish have scarcely been dreamt of, much less seen. Lord Carnarvon doubt whether any former find has ever exceeded this in magnitude. Moreover, he believes that behind a wall in the tomb lies King Tut-ankh Amen [sic] himself. This chamber will be unsealed in January."
The extraordinary first-hand account of one of the most celebrated events in the annals of archaeology.
Auction Info
2022 July 16 Historical Platinum Session Signature® Auction #6258 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
July, 2022
16th
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