Edward William Lane

Thompson has edited Lane's books, and written histories and other biographies centering on Egypt and Egyptology. Here he combines archival material recently available with sources used by earlier writers and published work to construct a massive biography of the renowned British scholar. Lane's character, aspirations, and limitations can only be fully understood by exploring the activities of his friends and colleagues and the firm and constant support of his family, he says, so the biography spreads at times into broad floodplains. Among his topics are an eastern bridegroom, a closer acquaintance with Cairo, Nubia, minarets and pyramids, culture shock, Description of Egypt, the Great Plague of 1835, Arabian Nights, midlife, an English harem in Egypt, and retirement in Worthing on the English coast. A battery of monochrome plates includes photographs, reproduced covers, and drawings. Distributed in the U.S. by International Publishers Marketing (IPM). Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

JASON THOMPSON is the author of Sir Gardiner Wilkinson and His Circle and the editor of Edward William Lanes Description of Egypt (AUC Press, 2000) and An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (AUC Press, 2003).