Norden's Egypt drawings published posthumously by editor and Nuremberg engraver

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Key facts

• Norden died in Paris in 1742, short of his 33rd birthday, before his travel account could be published
• He left behind notes, drawings and sketches on loose papers, made on the spot and combined with observations and measurements during his return trip into an account of his travels for the Danish king
• He began retouching his designs to correct them, and during a later trip to England published his remarks on John Graves's work, where he again spoke of a fourth pyramid
• After Norden's death his papers passed to a friend, and the king of Denmark appointed the Nuremberg engraver Mark Tuscher, who died before all plates were finished, leaving final decisions on text and art to the editor
• The English edition's editor states that additional drawings were engraved on a smaller scale to replace lost or unsatisfactory originals, and the video argues the overhead view of Giza is more likely a simplified engraver's version than Norden's own sketch
• The editor declared the memoirs would be published in their utmost purity with no added content, citing Norden's own written instruction that his papers were only memorandums made on the spot and that truth alone was his guide
• The editor cited one deliberate omission, a reference to the circle of gold taken from a sarcophagus and to plate 112 showing the ruins of the palace of Menon, left uncorrected in line with Norden's wishes
• The video concludes that understanding the editing process shows some discrepancies in Norden's account stem from his death rather than from fabrication

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