"To have Layard's Monuments of Nineveh reprinted with minimal reduction in page size is just wonderful. One of the rarest books for our subject, with its beautiful drawings, is now generally available at last. Gorgias Press is to be congratulated warmly for undertaking such a heroic task." - Stephanie Dalley, University of Oxford
This large, handsome volume, carefully reproduced from the original edition of 1849-53 and bound in deluxe Japanese cloth, contains 170 hand-drawings made by Layard of sculptures, bas-reliefs, and other objects discovered by him among the ruins of Nineveh and other ancient cities of Assyria. The site itself, as well as the objects collected in this book, have since been moved or destroyed. These intricately engraved drawings, some colored by hand and now digitally enhanced, are the only remains of this ancient legacy as they once existed.
The engravings are accompanied by descriptions. A detailed account of the monuments and their discovery is found in Layard's Nineveh and Its Remains and Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (both reprinted by Gorgias Press).
The original edition of 1849-1853 is exceptionally rare: only thirty-seven U.S. libraries are known to own a copy. A used copy from an antiquarian dealer is known to have retailed for almost $16,000.00.
The Gorgias Press edition includes a reproduction of a rare copy of the volume's original Prospectus, containing a list of subscribers completed probably in Layard's own hand, and listing Her Majesty The Queen [Victoria], Earl Spencer, and other noted personalities and institutions. Each copy is numbered with a special ex-libris certificate from Gorgias Press.
