GLANVILLE, S. R. K., editor. The Legacy of Egypt. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1942.
A presentation copy from Stephen Glanville, inscribed on the front free endpaper: “from Stephen Glanville, April 1942”, from the personal collection of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford. Glanville was one of the leading Egyptologists of his generation, later Professor of Egyptology at Cambridge and Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, but the wartime association is especially interesting: during the Second World War he served on the RAF Air Staff, reaching the rank of Wing Commander, placing him within the same Air Ministry and RAF world in which Portal served as Chief of the Air Staff.
First edition, first impression. Octavo, original dark blue cloth, gilt to spine, Oxford crest at foot. Published by the Clarendon Press in 1942. A substantial collaborative survey of Egyptian civilisation, edited by Glanville, with chapters on chronology, literature, art, science, medicine, law, religion, materials, Egypt and Israel, Egypt and Rome, and Christianity. Illustrated with plates and figures throughout.
Loosely inserted is a manuscript note, dated 1.5.42, shortly after Glanville’s presentation inscription. One side records names and addresses, while the reverse contains Egyptian historical and chronological jottings, including references to the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, Hammurabi, Sakkara, Ramesses II, Amenhotep and Seti I. The note appears to be a private reading or study note, preserved with the book, and gives the copy an additional personal dimension: Portal was not merely keeping a presentation volume from a wartime colleague, but appears to have engaged directly with its subject matter.
Condition: very good. Binding firm, cloth bright with minor marks and light rubbing. Contents clean with some natural toning. Glanville inscription clear. Manuscript note loosely inserted and preserved with the book.
A thoughtful wartime association copy, linking a distinguished Egyptologist serving on the RAF Air Staff with the RAF’s senior wartime chief.
