The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen Discovered By the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter

London: Cassell and Company, 1923. Three volumes complete, 1923-1933 - Volume One, xxiii, [1], 231pp, [1]; Volume Two - xxxiv, 277pp, [1]; and Volume Three - xvi, 247pp, [1]. Original decorative cloth in DJ's, decorative endpapers to volumes two and three. Title, author, volume number, and publisher in gilt to spine, with title, author, and central gilt scarab to upper cover. DJ's slightly worn and very lightly soiled, minor chipping to edges with tiny amounts of loss, a few small tape repairs to reverse, but generally complete. Light stain to upper cover of volume one. Internally a previous owner's name to half-titles, some very minor browning, some light foxing and dust staining to top and fore edges, otherwise quite bright and clean. Laid in loosely are a couple of newspaper cuttings, and some handwritten notes on a lecture given by Carter at University College in 1931. Volume one with a frontispiece and seventy-nine photographic plates and one plan, volume two with a frontispiece and eighty-eight photographic plates and volume three with a frontispiece and eighty photographic plates. Now housed in a leather entry slipcase by Temple Bookbinders. An attractive set, uncommon in the dust jackets, especially so complete. Carter, Howard (1874-1939), artist and archaeologist. "In the summer of 1922 Carter persuaded Carnarvon to allow him to conduct one more campaign in the valley. Starting work earlier than usual Howard Carter opened up the stairway to the tomb of Tutankhamun on 4 November 1922. Carnarvon hurried to Luxor and the tomb was entered on 26 November. The discovery astounded the world: a royal tomb, mostly undisturbed, full of spectacular objects. Carter recruited a team of expert assistants to help him in the clearance of the tomb, and the conservation and recording of its remarkable contents. On 16 February 1923 the blocking to the burial chamber was removed, to reveal the unplundered body and funerary equipment of the dead king. Unhappily, the death of Lord Carnarvon on 5 April seriously affected the subsequent progress of Carter's work. In spite of considerable and repeated bureaucratic interference, not easily managed by the short-tempered excavator, work on the clearance of the tomb proceeded slowly, but was not completed until 1932. Carter handled the technical processes of clearance, conservation, and recording with exemplary skill and care. A popular account of the work was published in three volumes, The Tomb of Tut.ankh.Amen (1923-33), the first of which was substantially written by his principal assistant, Arthur C. Mace" (ODNB). First Edition. Hardback. Good+/Good. Illus. by Burton, Harry. 8vo.