Many of these were reproduced in Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Ätheiopen, a collection of 900 chromolitho, litho or tinted litho plates issued in the years 1849-59 - Thebes is shown right. It was not until the end of the century that the text volumes, compiled by Edoard Naville and others from Lepsius' notes, began to appear, together with a supplementary collection of a further 48 plates, just five of which were coloured. It will come as no surprise therefore to learn that complete sets do not figure large, or indeed at all in recent auction records. Sold for £36,000 (Shapero) at Sotheby's on November 18 was a set that offered the original 1849 prospectus in green printed wrappers, the original plate volumes bound as 12 in contemporary red half morocco gilt, the supplementary plate collection of 1897-1900 (preserved loose in two of the original wrappers) and four volumes of text issued in the years 1897-1904, again in original wrappers but coming loose. All that was missing was a fifth volume of text and 15 additional plates issued in 1913. (The Blackmer Library copy, which comprised just the original plate volumes, was sold for £20,000 in 1989).
