1808 — Octavo. Pp. xii, 307. Half-title printed on both sides. Hardcover, bound in somewhat later cloth and marbled boards, spine gilt, vellum French corners, extremities bit rubbed, spine-ends trifle worn, foxed in places. In a very good condition. ~ First edition. Étienne-Marc Quatremère (1782-1857). While a classical scholar, Quatremère was interested in Egypt since his early youth and was among the first French scholars to seriously study Coptic. "Recherches critiques et historiques (.)" was his first book, an early study of the Coptic language which he based entirely on Coptic and Arabic manuscripts. It is remarkable that already with this first work he has made great efforts to analyse the history of several Coptic dialects. In later years Quatremère became an outstanding language scholar but this first work is rather distinguished by its encyclopaedic knowledeg. Like Johan Akerblad, Quatremère was acutely aware of the necessity of a better Coptic dictionary and already in this work has announced that he was compiling one. Like Akerblad's dictionary, it was never finished. See also: Frederick Thomasson: "The Life of J. D. Akerblad" (Leiden, 2013); and Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire: "Notice sur M. Étienne Quatremère" (Paris, Journal des Savants, 1957). Noteworthy, not in Beinlich-Seeber.
