Scarabs — Part 2-Cedar Herald Index

That I have spared no pains in order to make this book as complete as possible will, I think, be obvious to anyone who will take the trouble to read the letterpress and examine the plates. About one thousand three hundred specimens of Egyptian Seals and Signet-rings are figured, but these have been selected from drawings of some seven thousand, and from an examination of over thirty thousand examples. It may be noticed that the splendid collection preserved in the National Museum at Cairo has been drawn from but sparingly: this is due to the fact that M. Maspero had already commissioned me to prepare and publish a separate catalogue of the unique collection which is in that great savant’s care. The manuscript of this catalogue is now finished, and it will be published early in the coming year.

I have to thank the Keepers of Public Museums and many owners of Private Collections for the courtesy and kindness that they have shown in allowing me to inspect and draw from the specimens in their possession. To Prof. Erman and Dr. Schäfer I am indebted for plaster casts of the Berlin Museum seals; and to Prof. Petrie I am indebted for his generosity in placing at my disposal the magnificent historical series which he has gathered together at University College, London. To Mr. Walter Nash, F.S.A., I also wish to express my grateful thanks for much kindly help and encouragement in the earlier stages of this work; and in conclusion I must thank my friends and colleagues Prof. J. M. Mackay and Mr. John Garstang, for kindly looking through the proofs of this volume, and to the latter also for placing at my disposal the library of the Institute of Archæology of the University of Liverpool, wherein the manuscript has been completed.

Scarabs — Part 2