Part 1 (1/2)

The Works of Theophile Gautier

by Theophile Gautier

Volume 5

Introduction

The subject of ”The Roested to Theophile Gautier by Ernest Feydeau, the author of ”fanny” and other works of purely light literature, who published in 1858 a ”General History of Funeral Custo the Ancients” This book was reviewed by Gautier when it appeared, and it is most likely that he had been previously yptian funeral rites and modes of sepulture with the author, for it was to Feydeau that he dedicated his novel when it was published in book form by Hachette in 1858 An omnivorous reader, Gautier had no doubt also perused the far more important works of Champollion, the decipherer of the inscriptions on the Rosetta stone, who first gave the learned world the key to the lyphic alphabet

Chaypt and Nubia” had appeared in four volumes from 1835 to 1845, and a continuation by hie was coypt” had been published in 1840, having been preceded by Lenoryptian Antiquities in the Louvre,” in 1830, and followed by Prisse d'Avennes' ”Monuypt” in 1847 The explorations and discoveries of Mariette, sus,” issued in 1856, and the steady growth of the Egyptian Museunificent Clot-Bey collection, must have attracted the attention of Gautier, always keenly interested in art, literature, and erudition

The account he gives, in his novel, of the ancient city of Thebes, of the great necropolis in the valley of Biban el Moluk, of the subterranean toners to baffle curiosity, of the fori, of the mummy-cases, of the mummy itself, of the yptians, areis easier than to verify his descriptions by reference to the works of Champollion, Mariette, Wilkinson, Rawlinson, Erman, Edwards, and Maspero Scarcely here and there will the reader find a possible error in his statements It is evident that he has not trusted alone to what Feydeau told hiists; he examined the antiquities in the Louvre for himself; he noted carefully the scenes depicted on i; he traced the ornamentation in all its details; he studied the poses, the attitudes, the expressions; he marked the costumes, the accessories; in a word, he mastered his subject, and then only did he, with that facility and certainty that amazed Balzac, write in swift succession the chapters of the novel which appeared in the numbers of the ”Moniteur Universel” from March 11 to May 6, 1857

His remark on Feydeau's book, ”Picturesqueness in no wise detracts froht well be applied to his own ”Romance,” which fascinates the reader with its evocation of a long vanished past and its representation of a civilisation buried for centuries in ht by Moses and Aaron, of the overwhel of the Pharaoh, whether Thoted, and imparts to the portions of the Biblical narrative used by hihly artistic The purely erudite part of the ould probably not have interested the general public, indifferent to the discoveries of archaeology, but the introduction of the human element of love at once captivated it; the erudite appreciated the accuracy of the restoration of ancient times and manners; the merely curious were pleased with a well told story, cleverly set in a fraeness appealed to their love of exoticism and novelty

There have been added by the editor, as bearing upon the subject of the ”Romance of a Mummy,” two or three chapters from the volume entitled ”The Orient,” which is made up of a collection of sketches and letters of travel written at different times, and of reviews of books upon Eastern subjects, whether ypt was the result of a flying visit paid to that country on the occasion of the official opening of the Suez Canal in November, 1869 Gautier eeries Iht out he slipped and fell down the companion steps, and broke his left arm above the elbow This painful accident did not prevent his fulfilling his promise to keep the ”Journal Officiel,” hich he was then connected, fully supplied with accounts of the land and the inauguration cereue

”I have a presentiment that we shall find in the valley of Biban el Moluk a tolish, blue-checked handkerchief, his bald head, on which stood drops of perspiration, just as if it had been made of porous clay and filled ater like a Theban water-jar

”May Osiris hear you!” replied the English nobleman to the German scholar ”One may be allowed such an invocation in the presence of the ancient _Diospolis Magna_ But we have been so often deceived hitherto; treasure-seekers have always forestalled us”

”A tos nor the Medes of Cambyses nor the Greeks nor the Roive up to us its riches intact,” continued the perspiring scholar, with an enthusiaslasses

”And on which you will print a ive you a place by the side of Champollion, Rosellini, Wilkinson, Lepsius, and Belzoni,” said the young nobleman

”I shall dedicate it to you, al munificence, I could not have backed up my system by an examination of the monuments, and I should have died inbeheld the marvels of this ancient land,”

replied the scholar, with emotion

This conversation took place not far from the Nile, at the entrance to the valley of Biban el Moluk, between Lord Evandale, who rode an Arab horse, and Dr Rumphius, more modestly perched upon an ass, the lean hind-quarters of which a fellah was belabouring The boat which had brought the two travellers, and which was to be their dwelling during their stay, was e of Luxor Its sweeps were shi+pped, its great lateen sails furled on the yards After having devoted a few days to visiting and studying the ahty world, they had crossed the river on a sandal, a light native boat, and were proceeding towards the barren region which contains within its depths, far down ea, the former inhabitants of the palaces on the other bank A few men of the crew accompanied Lord Evandale and Dr

Rumphius at a distance, while the others, stretched out on the deck in the shadow of the cabin, were peacefully s the craft

Lord Evandale was one of those thoroughly irreproachable young nobleive to civilisation He bore everywhere with hireat hereditary wealth, a historic nae”--a book second only to the Bible in England--and a beauty against which nothing could be urged, save that it was too great for a man His clear-cut and cold features seeer or Antinous; his brilliant coe and powder, and his somewhat reddish hair curled naturally as accurately as an expert hairdresser or clever valet could have lance of his steel-blue eyes and the slightly sneering expression of his lower lip corrected whatever there eneral appearance

As anobleed occasionally in a cruise on his swift yacht _Puck_, built of teak, fitted like a boudoir, and manned by a s year he had visited Iceland; in the present year he was visiting Egypt, and his yacht awaited him in the roads of Alexandria He had with him a scholar, a physician, a naturalist, an artist, and a photographer, in order that his trip hly educated, and his society successes had not e University He was dressed with that accuracy and careful neatness characteristic of the English, who traverse the desert sands in the sa on the pier at Raate or on the pavements of the West End A coat, vest, and trousers of white duck, intended to repel the sun's rays, composed his costume, which was completed by a narrow blue necktie hite spots, and an extreyptologist, preserved even in this hot climate the traditional black coat of the scholar with its loose skirts, its curled up collar, its worn buttons, so His black trousers shone in places and showed the warp

Near the right knee an attentive observer round of the stuff a systematic series of lines of richer tone which proved that he was in the habit of wiping his pen upon this portion of his clothes Hisloosely around his neck, on which stood out strongly the Adah he was dressed with scientific carelessness, Rumphius was not any the handsoray, were brushed back behind his protruding ears, and were puffed up by the high collar of his coat His perfectly bald skull, shi+ning like a bone, overhung a prodigiously long nose, spongy and bulbous at the end, so that with the blue discs of his glasses he looked somewhat like an ibis,--a resemblance increased by his head sunk between his shoulders This appearance was of course entirely suitable and lyphic inscriptions and scrolls He looked like a bird-headed God, such as are seen on funeral frescoes, who had transrated into the body of a scholar