equalled, never excelled. On account of the small number printed, this volume is, unfortunately, extremely rare. In 1833, Mr. Wilkinson was compelled, by failing health, to return to England; but he could not remain idle, and soon published a general account of Egypt, with the title, Thebes and Ancient Egypt.' This work was fuller and far more accurate than any upon the same subjects published after the interpretation of hieroglyphics had been discovered, and is remarkable as containing the first account of the manners and customs of the ancient inhabitants. The latter subject Mr. Wilkinson soon afterwards decided to treat in a separate work, fully illustrated by drawings of the ancient paintings and sculptures; and in 1837 the first portion of his great work, The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,' appeared in three volumes. Though he left. England in 1838 and 1839 to visit Spain and Italy for his health, he did not abandon his enterprise, and in 1841 he published two more volumes of text and a volume of plates; this completing the work. The Ancient Egyptians' is one of those remarkable books that make an epoch in literature, establishing a new province of knowledge, and taking a position as works of reference from which they cannot be displaced. In variety of information on every subject connected with the old inhabitants of Egypt, and for extensive and accurate illustrations, it is quite unrivalled; and those who wish to understand the ancient Egyptians must do so with this work for their guide. Upon the publication of the first part, the author was at once recognized to be the English authority on ancient Egypt; and in 1839 he received the honour of knighthood for his literary services. The Ancient Egyptians' had scarcely been completed when a new work on the monuments, Modern Egypt and Thebes,' appeared, being published in the next year. It was long the guide-book for travellers on the Nile, and is still indispensable as the scientific account of the monuments to all learned travellers. Sir Gardner also undertook a condensed edition of this work for Mr. Murray's series of Handbooks. After an absence of eight years, Sir Gardner again visited Egypt in 1841; and leaving England in 1843, travelled in Greece, paid a third visit to Egypt, visited Syria, Constantinople, Tunis, and Sicily, and returned, after being absent two years, by the Illyrian coast of the Adriatic. While in the Regency of Tunis he was fortunate in being able to visit the sacred city of Keyrawán, and make drawings of its Arab monuments. He executed many interesting architectural sketches during this tour, and acquired fresh materials relating to ancient Egypt. The chief published result is his important work on 'Dalmatia and Montenegro.' Returning home in 1845, he revisited Egypt in 1848, and for the first time ascended the Nile beyond the second cataract, to examine the remains of Napata, Tirhakah's capital, at Gebel-Berkel, thought by M. de Rougé to be the Noph of the Bible. He made a careful plan of the site, which ought to be published as a companion to the 'Survey of Thebes.' Having visited Italy and other countries, he came home in 1850. Immediately on his return, his work on the 'Architecture of Ancient Egypt' appeared, containing many accurate and beautiful drawings. It was succeeded by the Turin Papyrus of Kings,' a facsimile, with explanatory letterpress, of an important Egyptian chronological document, which Dr. Lepsius had previously published, but in a less complete manner. A long study of ancient monuments, and especial attention to architecture, naturally directed Sir Gardner's mind to the subject of taste; and this bent was confirmed by his becoming interested, both as a juror and as an exhibitor, in the Great Exhibition of 1851. Some years afterwards he published the results of long and elaborate investigations, in a valuable essay 'On Colour, and the Necessity for a General Diffusion of Taste among all Classes.' In 1855 Sir Gardner paid a fifth visit to Egypt to examine the remains of early Christian architecture, and while drawing at Thebes in the heat of the sun, suffered from a coup de soleil, which compelled him to return home, though, as soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he utilized his homeward journey by making an examination of the French cathedrals. Soon afterwards the 'Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians,' in many respects a new work, was published, and in 1857 an entirely new essay, 'The Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs,' as a companion to the Crystal Palace Guides. Sir Gardner Wilkinson was also occupied at this time in annotating the Rev. George Rawlinson's Herodotus;' and he has at various times contributed papers to the Proceedings of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and of other Societies. In 1856 Sir Gardner Wilkinson married Caroline Catherine, eldest daughter of Henry Lucas, of Uplands, county Glamorgan, Esq., by Caroline, daughter and co-heir of Ponsonby Tottenham, of Rosegarland, county of Wexford, Esq., M.P., a descendant of Sir Thomas Lucas, one of whose brothers, Sir Charles Lucas, is famous in history for his defence of Colchester Castle against General Fairfax in the Great Rebellion, and for his tragical death on the capitulation; while another, Lord Lucas, of Shenfield, was father of Margaret, the celebrated Duchess of Newcastle. Lady Wilkinson takes an interest in botany, and has published an elegant work on British Wild Flowers, as well as an account of the ancient British Church, supporting the well-founded opinion that there was a native church in this island before the preaching of St. Augustine. Sir Gardner Wilkinson has during late years been occupied in examining the remains of the Britons in England, but more particularly in South Wales, Devonshire, and Cornwall, having visited and fully explored many sites, and made careful drawings and plans, especially of the ancient gold-mines in Wales. Some of these results have been made public in the Transactions of Learned Societies. Notwithstanding his numerous publications, filling no less than twenty-two volumes, four of which are of plates from the author's drawings,-in one case lithographed by himself,-besides contributing to the publications of Societies, a great mass of materials remains in Sir Gardner's hands. His note-books are full of drawings beautifully and clearly executed, as well as careful memoranda of every object he met interesting to a student of archæology and art. His works exhibit but a selection, and it would be a boon to knowledge could he be prevailed upon to publish these note-books as they stand. Sir Gardner Wilkinson is an Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Corresponding Member of the Royal Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna and the Royal Academy of Turin, an Honorary Fellow of the Ethnological Society of London, and an Honorary Member of the Entomological, Oxford Architectural, and American, Oriental, and Ethnological Societies. |