EGYPT - Edouard MARIETTE(1842-19?Engineer and architect; hal - Lot 418

EGYPT - Edouard MARIETTE(1842-19?Engineer and architect; half-brother of the famous Egyptologist Auguste MARIETTE, 1821-1881, whose secretary and collaborator he was; gifted with a real talent for drawing, he took part in the survey of archaeological excavations in Egypt; a recognized architect, he wrote a practical treatise on construction in Egypt and numerous contributions to architectural journals; He was also involved in the organization of the 1900 Universal Exhibition) / Autograph letter signed, 4 p in-8, on the letterhead of the Hotel Minerva in Athens, March 30, 1904, to Madame Barrois, wife of Charles Barrois (1851-1939, geologist and paleontologist, professor at the Faculté de Lille): He has had some rather unfortunate weather in Greece, "wind to break everything and dust to drown everything": "Aeolus and Boreas conspired without respite"; in fact, he was bored "to find myself alone, after our talks on board" and his meetings in Cairo and Upper Egypt with numerous friends, which revived "a number of memories that were already distant, but still so precise that I would have thought they were from yesterday"; He goes on to talk about his program - he won't be going to Delphi, which he feels will be a long and arduous excursion, even though Monsieur HOMOLLE, whom he met in the morning, tells him this is exaggerated (his correspondent should pay him a visit, "he's most welcoming"), "if I'd been in your kind company, it would undoubtedly have become a real pleasure for me"; The site ofDélos seemed to him to present even more obstacles, "I shall abstain" - "Marathonme says little"; "After some prevarication, I decided to leave forPatrasandOlympia", and he embarked at Patras forBrindisip to reachNapleson April 5 (nb: Théophile HOMOLLE (1848-1925) was an archaeologist and Hellenist, responsible for the Delphi excavations, and appointed director of the Musées nationaux in 1904 (he had to resign following the famous theft of the Mona Lisa).