ALFRED J. BUTLER UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT DIARY - NOTES TAKEN IN EGYPT &tc. Remarkable autograph diary of

Remarkable autograph diary of Egyptologist Alfred J. Butler documenting his stay and travels in Egypt and a sea voyage to Turkey and Greece from January 15th. 1881 until 10th. May 1881. Written in a large (36x24cm foolscap) bound journal of 376 pages, with the diary occupying only the first 217 pages and written mainly on the obverse of each page with occasional notes on the verso of the pages. Effectively well over 100 densely written pages with in the region of 250 words per page. Bound in ¼ cloth and green paper boards with the label on the front board hand titled. Edges marbled. The front pastedown is inscribed “Alfred J. Butler, Abdin Palace Cairo, 1881” and also inscribed by Butler in Arabic. Signed by and from the library of S.A. Rochlin, well known S.African political figure who also published an article on Islam in Nineteenth Century South Africa. Small Hanover - Germany, bookseller’s label on the front pastedown as well as a small cutting of a bookseller’s catalogue description of this item.  A few stains and slight bubbling of the front endpapers and slight rubbing to the edges of the boards, but generally in very good clean condition.The diary consists of easily legible, detailed and erudite descriptions of the author’s travels, encounters and ideas. A wealth of material and of great interest to researches and Egyptologists.

BUTLER, ALFRED JOSHUA (1850-1936), English historian who was educated at Oxford, becoming a fellow of Brasenose College in 1877 and receiving his doctorate in 1902. He wrote a number of works on Egypt that spanned from the Coptic era to the medieval period, including his "Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt" (Oxford, 1884) and the acclaimed "The Arab Conquest of Egypt" (Oxford, 1902). His 1887 book, Court Life in Egypt, is a narrative of his experiences and impressions; there are some anecdotes about the Khedivial family and a lot of impressions of Egypt by an observer who, apparently, had no previous experience of it. These diaries are very likely the basis of this book.