Vol. I - The Coptic Orthodox Church

Introduction. Ixxiii
beginner, and will save him time and trouble and give him help,
and if my hope and belief be realized, the purpose of my friend
who made the printing of the book possible will be effected, and
my own time and labour will not have been wasted. Many,
many years must pass before the perfect Egyptian Hieroglyphic
Dictionary can, or will, be written, and meanwhile the present
work may serve as a stop-gap.
It is now my pleasant duty to put on record my thanks and
gratitude to those who have enabled me to produce this book. Thanks to
First and foremost they are due to the *hose
gentleman, who wh
having
5 have made the
discussed with me my plan for the proposed Dictionary and publication
fthls
suggested certain modifications of
to defray the entire cost of its
it and additions to it, decided
Dictionary
production. In spite of my possible.
entreaties he persists in remaining anonymous, and wishes to be
known only as an English gentleman who is interested in every-
thing that concerns the history, religion, language and literature
of ancient Egypt, and in the language and literature of the Copts,
that is to say, of the Egyptians who embraced Christianity. He
is also deeply interested in the exploration of Western Asia,
and has liberally supported all the endeavours made by the
English to excavate the sites of the ancient cities mentioned in
the Bible. Owing to the great advance in the price of materials,
and the various rises in wages in the printing trades that have
taken place during the War, twice or thrice I was on the verge
of being obliged to stop the printing of this book, but my friend
decided that the work should go on, and that the original plan
as approved by him should be neither altered nor curtailed, and Great rise in
he furnished the means for continuing the work. What this wages and
means will be evident from the fact that since we began to print production
in July, 1916, the cost per sheet has increased by not less than of th
. .
125 per cent. !
In
addition to this generous act I am indebted
to my anonymous friend for ready help and sympathy during
the last forty years.
I owe my wife many thanks for constant help in the sorting
and incorporation of slips, and for assistance in the reading of
proofs.
She has also read for and with me the proofs and revises
of every sheet of the book, and its completion is due largely to
her help and encouragement.
To Mr. Edgar Harrison, partner in the firm of Harrison & Sons,
Mr. Edgar
I am indebted in another way. From start to finish Harrison,
he has taken the deepest interest in the printing of the
Dictionary, and has done everything he could, both officially
is