Jane DIEULAFOY. A Suse, Journal des fouilles. Book containin - Lot 47

Jane DIEULAFOY. A Suse, Journal des fouilles. Book containing 121 woodcuts and 1 map. Paris, France. Librairie Hachette et Cie. 1888. Large in-4 Jane DIEULAFOY. A Suse, Journal des fouilles. Book containing 121 woodcuts and 1 map. Paris, France. Librairie Hachette et Cie. 1888. Large in-4 (25.5 x 34.5 cm) with 1 blank f., 1 false title, 1 title in two colors (red), (2)-366 pp. 1 blank f., 1 color map. Publisher's binding. Midnight blue half-chagrin. Polychrome decoration on boards (large palm on a background of oriental motifs, seal on a gilded background with sphinx) and spine (titles on the same decorative background). First edition. In 1881 and 1882, the Dieulafoys, commissioned by the French government, explored Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Baghdad. Jane Henriette Dieulafoy, née Magre (1851-1916), originally from Toulouse, traveled with her husband, an engineer and archaeologist. Dressed as a man, she was afraid of nothing and visited everything, aided by her knowledge of Persian, which she spoke fluently. The story of their expedition was published in 1887. They returned to Persia in 1884, accompanied by a young engineer, Charles Babin, and the naturalist Frédéric Houssay; they obtained permission from the Iranian government to excavate the site under certain conditions, in particular the sharing of the finds. Excavation took place during the winters of 1885 and 1886, and Dieulafoy's objective was to complete the excavation of the Apadana identified by Loftus. The excavations were carried out under difficult conditions: the researchers lived in tents, exposed to storms and brigand attacks in a region where the central government had little power. Nevertheless, the Dieulafoy expedition succeeded in sending numerous discoveries to the Louvre Museum. Numerous woodcuts in and out of text. Rare publisher's binding in fine condition.