Lot 17
JERUSALEM – THE MOABITE STONE Autograph letter signed ("Charles Warren"), to the literary hostess Mrs Cunliffe, giving an account of his dealings with regard to the Moabite Stone to date, Jerusalem, 2 March 1870
11 March 2020, 13:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £1,147.50 inc. premium
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JERUSALEM – THE MOABITE STONE
Autograph letter signed ("Charles Warren"), to the literary hostess Mrs Cunliffe, giving an account of his dealings with regard to the Moabite Stone to date ("...I am glad to hear you are interested in the stone from Moab: it was discovered first by a French protestant minister, in Anglican orders and pay, and with a German name and Prussian sympathies. He gave his information to the Prussian Consul, who tried to get a grant from The Turkish Government, the reply I think he got was that he could have it if he could get it... In coming back to Jerusalem from Lebanon I heard that the stone was broken, having been abandoned by the Prussians, and a broken piece was sent to me. I then thought it time to interfere and sent down and got squeezes of what remained... And even now though they say the stone is of high interest I have no instructions about getting it, and yrt Grove writes to know why I have neglected it so long &c in his queer way..."); together with letters by George Grove and E.O. Deutsch of the British Museum, the Warren letter 3 pages, mounted with the other letters onto an album leaf, Jerusalem, 2 March 1870
Footnotes
'GLAD TO HEAR YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE STONE FROM MOAB' – the celebrated Moabite Stone, or Mesha Stele, dating from about 840 BC, is widely regarded as constituting a cornerstone of Semitic epigraphy, giving qualified confirmation of the some of the events described in the Book of Kings, while continuing to this day to arouse controversy. Discovered in 1868 by F.A. Klein, its discovery was announced by Sir George Grove in a letter to the Times of 8 February 1870, where he erroneously attributes its discovery to Warren, who in our letter is at pains to set the record straight. Warren had worked for the Palestine Exploration Fund from 1867 and was to publish an account of his findings in The Recovery of Jerusalem in 1871. The stele is at present in the Louvre, although its return has been demanded by Jordan.