Vol. I - The Coptic Orthodox Church

xxiv Introduction.
who had only studied Egyptian for a year could produce an
elaborate work on difficult Egyptian texts in three volumes
quarto was absurd on the face of it, and as Champollion-Figeac
knew that his brother had written monographs on the very texts
that were mentioned in the prospectus, he came to the conclusion
that Salvolini had stolen the missing manuscripts. This was
Effrontery of quite possible, for Salvolini had had free access to the study of
Salvolini.
his last
Champollion, and was constantly in his house during
illness. In August, 1833, at a public meeting of the Academic
des Inscriptions Silvestre de Sacy solemnly called upon the man
or men who had the missing manuscripts in their possession
to restore them to their author's family, and Salvolini had the
audacity to join him in mourning the loss of them, and with tears
in his eyes he implored the man who had them to give them up.
And at that moment he was announcing the publication of them
under his own name ! Still nothing was heard of the missing
Salvolini's
nS"~
anlfo?ath
manuscripts. In February, 1838, Salvolini died, aged 28. Cham-
Pollion-Figeac tried to find out what papers he had left behind,
and was told that they had been claimed by a foreign messenger,
and that they had been sent beyond the Alps. As a matter of
fact, they had never left Paris, where they remained forgotten
in some rooms. When Salvolini died his relatives commissioned
Verardi the an artist, Luigi Verardi, to wind up his affairs, and when this
artist offers
Salvolini s
MSS. to
gentleman examined the effects the manuscripts on which was
inscribed the name of Francois Salvolini seemed to be the most
Lenormant.
vaiuable parts of them. Verardi really believed that the manu-
Lenormant
scripts were the work of Salvolini, and wishing to do the best he
could for his friend's family, tried to sell them, but no one would
buy them. Finally, not knowing what else to do with the manuscripts,
he wished to show them to Charles Lenormant, the friend
and fellow traveller of Champollion, and to take his advice on
the subject. At first Lenormant refused to look at them, but
after a tune, to oblige his friend Verardi, he agreed to do so.
As soon as Lenormant began to turn over the leaves of the bundles
recognises the of manuscripts which bore on them Salvolini's name, he recognised
MSS. stolen at once two of the works of Champollion, the loss of which had
by Salvolini. been publicly deplored by Silvestre de Sacy at the meeting of
the Academie mentioned above. There was no longer any doubt
about the matter. Salvolini had stolen the manuscripts of his
friend and master, and as he made no response to de Sacy's appeal
for their restoration, it was quite clear that he had intended to
keep them. With the manuscripts of Champollion were several