Vol. I - The Coptic Orthodox Church

Introduction. xxv
papers that were the work of Salvolini, but when Lenormant
showed Verardi a whole volume which Champollion had written
in French with his own hand, and pointed out to him the title,
" Storia d'Egitto par F. Salvolini," which Salvolini had written
on the title sheet, Verardi was convinced that he had been
deceived by his dead friend. He realised quickly that Champollion's
manuscripts must be given up to his heirs, and showed
himself amenable to Lenormant's representations. Lenormant Lenormant
agreed to give him 600 francs for the documents, and with this purchases the
MSS. from
sum Salvolini's family had to be content. Lenormant took Verardi.
possession of all Champollion's stolen manuscripts, and handed
them over to the Government, who, by a special resolution passed
on the 24th of April, 1833, had ordered their acqusition in the
interests of science. Salvolini published the first volume of the
"
Analyse Grammaticale " in 1836 the ; second and third volumes
did not appear. His papers fill five volumes. See Catalogue
des Papyrus gyptiens de la Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, No.
331, MS. 4to. See also the two letters to M. C. Gazzera in Des
principales expressions qui servent a la Notation des Dates sur les
Monuments de I'Ancienne tigypte. Paris, 1832-3. 8vo.
Champollion's manuscripts, however, needed a great deal of
alteration and arrangement before they could be printed. And
their editor describes in detail how he was himself obliged to make
a copy of the Dictionary in which he incorporated
the contents
of both the slips and the folios, as well as very many important
particulars from his brother's Grammaire Egyptienne. Having ChampoUionwritten
out all his material, he had to decide how to arrange h/f brother's
the words. This was no easy matter, and finally he adopted MSS.
the system which was foreshadowed in his brother's " Memoire
sur l'6criture Hieratique," and was printed in 1821. At that
time Champollion was endeavouring to classify and arrange the
Egyptian hieroglyphs, and found great difficulty in doing so.
He believed that the ancient Egyptians must have had some
system of arrangement for them, though he had no support for
this view, and no evidence on the subject was forthcoming from
native sources, and none from the works of classical writers.
Finally he adopted a " methodical, or so to say, natural classi- Champollion's
fication," that is, he grouped into sections the figures of men, ci^ifcation
human members, animals, birds, fish, reptiles, plants, etc. This of hieroglyphs
e on the
method was a modification of the system of arrangement of
tfc
op
words in their Vocabularies by the Copts, for Champollion argued " Scala."
that if the Copts, who are racially the descendants of the ancient