Description de l'Egypte Desk Diary (1998)

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte sent 35,000 troops to conquer Egypt, and 167 of France's leading scholars to study the country in all its aspects.

The result of their efforts, the "Description de l'Egypte", comprises ten volumes and includes 837 copperplate engravings and over 3000 drawings. This week-by-week diary for 1998, on the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's invasion, reproduces 55 of the illustrations of the "Description" and records the most significant dates of the expedition, including the arrival of the French fleet at Alexandria (July 2) and the announcement of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone (July 19).