Title Page from Excerpta Hieroglyphica IV

James Burton, the son of a British property developer, lived and traveled widely in Egypt in the early nineteenth century. Like many of his contemporaries, Burton took advantage of Khedivate Egypt established under British patronage after the defeat of the French following their surrender in the aftermath of the battle of Alexandria in 1801. Burton is often credited with many so-called "discoveries" and many apocryphal stories relate his hedonistic exploits, but one of his lasting legacies is his publication of copies of Egyptian relief scenes and texts in a series of small pamphlets called Excerpta Hieroglyphica. Considering that the hieroglyphic script had only been deciphered in 1822, the copies are remarkable for their time and often preserve elements that have since deteriorated. These pamphlets were not printed with a letterpress, but rather using lithography. Copies are exceedingly rare as they were privately printed for Burton to offer directly to colleagues and institutions.