Henry Salt

by Deborah Manley, Peta Ree

Henry Salt (1780-1827) was a key figure in early 19th-century travel, Egyptology and diplomacy. Celebrated for his extraordinary expeditions to Abyssinia, which rivaled those of James Bruce, Salt became the British Consul-General in Egypt during the most fascinating period of its recent history, and was the friend and confidante of Mehemet Ali, Pasha and founder of modern Egypt. He employed the colorful Giovanni Belzoni to excavate at Thebes and Abu Simbel, and undertook important archaeological research at the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Salt built up a breathtaking collection of antiquities, including the head of Ramesses II now in the British Museum and the sarcophagus of Seti I in the Soane Museum. His close circle included such characters as Burckhardt, Bankes, and Caviglia, and Champollion praised his work on the decipherment of hieroglyphs. Trained as an artist under Hoppner, Salt's paintings of India, Abyssinia and Egypt rank alongside those of David Roberts and Thomas Daniells. This study, the first modern biography of Henry Salt, is a long overdue appreciation of a significant and sympathetic figure, and a vivid evocation of a fascinating period.

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2001

Reviews

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Henry Salt has had a very bad press, and this was an interesting and very well-written attempt to redress the balance - successfully for me. Salt is best known his Egyptian collections, made during his period as Consul-General, most of which are now in the British Museum and the Sloane Museum. And this is what he's derided for these days - stripping Egypt of its inheritance in the name of profit. But here's the thing that this book really points out very well - if you put what Salt did in context, he was a LOT more ethical than anyone else.

I found the section on his collecting, the various eccentric and dubious characters he warred with and used, and the descriptions of the ancient sites at the time the most fascinating aspect of this book. Egypt was awash with Europeans out to dig and cart off relics big and small, and Egypt's ruler the Turkish Mehmet Ali was more than happy to allow them to do so, provided he was suitably rewarded. Ali believed that Egypt wasn't ready for its own museum and that the relics would be better appreciated elsewhere, and institutions like the British Museum were more than happy to turn a blind eye as to how their collections were acquired.

I also found fascinating the cast of characters who strolled through Salt's life in Egypt, having encountered so many of them before in the several 'desert' books I've been reading of late. It was a very small world!

The earlier episodes in Salt's life, his travels in Abyssinia in particular, while I am sure very interesting, I found less so. His tragic personal life i'd have loved to know more of, but the authors seem to have drawn a complete blank when it came to what happened to his daughter, and even the first name of his wife, who died so tragically young and whose entrance into Salt's life seems to have caused a bit of a scandal. But overall, I enjoyed this book, and found lots I want to follow up on. In terms of restoring Salt to his rightful place in history, I think it does the trick in a nicely balanced way, without falling into the trap of being uncritical. The portrait of the man is not so clearly drawn as the portrait of the diplomat and collector, but his personality does glint through enough to endear him to the reader, and it made me think that he was a man I'd have liked to have known.