CARTER HOWARD: (1874-1939) 'It was a thrilling moment........on the threshold of what might prove to be a ...

CARTER HOWARD: (1874-1939) 'It was a thrilling moment........on the threshold of what might prove to be a magnificent discovery'

CARTER HOWARD: (1874-1939) English archaeologist and Egyptologist, discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1923. An excellent group of three typescript manuscripts, unsigned, by Howard Carter, with many annotations, additions and corrections in his hand, being the text for three lectures (two on the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and a third on the subject of colour), forty-eight pages (total), small 4to, n.p. (London?), n.d. (c.1924, 1930 & 1934). The first typescript manuscript commences 'We had almost given up in dispair (sic), and would have done, were it not for the fact that in nearing the tomb of Ramses VI (sic) we found a very intriguing buried heap of flint boulders which suggested the proximity of a tomb. Why had they been placed there?......They were of a kind usually selected by the Ancient Egyptians for filling in the entrance of a tomb, but there was nothing of the kind underneath them......In October, 1922, I returned to Luxor to make this final effort.....I set my Egyptian staff to work, about 120 men and boys in all.....When in four days we made the discovery which surpassed our wildest hopes. How well I remember that fourth day. I arrived early in the morning on the scene of the action......the work of clearing continued feverishly throughout the rest of the day......then, with ill-suppressed excitement, I watched the descending steps, one by one, as they were revealed, Our work progressed, and at the level of the twelfth step there was disclosed the upper part of a doorway, blocked, plastered and sealed. It was a thrilling moment for an excavator, alone, save for his native workmen, after years of unproductive labour, on the threshold of what might prove to be a magnificent discovery. Amything, literally anything, might lie beyond that sealed door and it needed all my self control to keep from breaking down the blocking of that doorway, and investigating then and there......I sent a runner into Luxor with a cable telling Lord Carnarvon, then in London, the good news. Little knowing that had I gone a few centimetres deeper in that excavation, the name of Tut.ankh.Amen upon the seals of that doorway would have told me the secret - that almost ephemeral king, Tut.ankh.Amen......had made his grave in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings' and continues 'The decisive moment had arrived. With almost trembling hands I made a tiny breech in the upper left hand corner.....A lighted candle was then applied, the ever necessary test and precaution against possible foul gasses, and then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in.......gradually ones eyes became accustomed to the dim light, details of the room within emerged slowly, strange animals, statues and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to others standing by - I was amazed, when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, "Can you see anything?" it was [all] I could do to answer, "Yes, wonderful things"'. The second typescript manuscript is entitled The Royal Burial and Innermost Treasury and dated May 1930, and states, in part, 'Our work in the Antechamber was finished.....We were ready at last to penetrate the mystery of the sealed door.....When a hole sufficiently large was made to see in, an astonishing sight was revealed, for there, within a metre of the doorway, stretching as far as one could see, and blocking the entrance of the chamber, stood what to all appearances was a wall of gold. We were at the entrance of the actual Burial Chamber of the King, and that which barred our way was the side of an immense gilt shrine, built to cover and protect the sarcophagus......before us, was one of the Great Golden Shrines beneath which Kings of Egypt were laid.......a surprise awaited us, for an open door, leading eastwards from the Burial Chamber, led to yet another chamber......this proved to be the Innermost Treasury. From where we stood, a glance sufficed to tell us that there within this small chamber lay perhaps the greatest treasures of the tomb'. Interspersed between the text of both manuscripts are a number of pages detailing the slides which Carter used to illustrate his lectures, including images of the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, the excavations, the discovery of the tomb, the more important objects found in the antechamber (including a painting of a hunting scene, Carter noting in his own hand that 'Such scenes are naturally the works of a Court painter - doing homage to the young monarch. For such a slender youth, un-armed, save for the bow and arrow, to attack a group of fierce lions & lionesses, is hardly tenable'), the coffins, the raising of the lid of the sarcophagus, and much more. The final, third typescript manuscript is for a lecture entitled Colour which Carter delivered at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 17th October 1934 and commences 'The normal visual apparatus of the eye enables us to distinguish not only differences of form of objects looked upon, but difference in character of the light received from them, which we name colour. Form is intellectual; colour emotional. Colour is the property of form, that is to say, only decorative. Colour does not define an object, but it instils a sensation and a feeling. Thus, in art and ornamental design, form is perhaps more important than colour, but excellence in both is the most important' and continues with a fascinating discussion of colour from artistic and scientific perspectives, also making a reference to the Valley of the Kings, and quoting Sir Joshua Reynolds. The manuscripts are contained together within a limp bound ring leaf binder and a few of the pages are loose. A wonderful series of manuscript lectures, particularly for their first-hand accounts of the most famous discovery in the history of Egyptology. Some light staining and minor age wear, otherwise generally VG

In 1924 Howard Carter made a tour of Great Britain, France, Spain and the United States of America, delivering a series of illustrated lectures on the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb. In New York and other American cities Carter's meetings were attended by large and enthusiastic audiences, sparking American Egyptomania, and President Calvin Coolidge requested a private lecture.