Edward Lear, Philae, Egypt.
Pen and brown ink and watercolor over pencil; inscribed lower left: Philae / 8. AM. / Feby. [sic] 19. 1867 and further inscribed with artist’s notes . 87 by 251 mm.

This drawing was created on the spot in the early morning of 19^thJanuary 1867.  Lear shows the island of Philae, with the Ptolemaic Temple of Isis and the Kiosk of Trajan, surrounded by the calm waters of the Nile.
Philae occupied a special place in Lear’s conscience. He first visited the region in 1857, when he spent ten days exploring the ancient site.  In a letter home, he affectionately described it as being ‘more like a real fairy island than anything else I can compare it to.’¹  When he returned in January 1867, he was equally excited, noting that ‘it is more beautiful than ever!’²
1.  V. Noakes, Edward Lear – Selected Letters, Oxford 1988, p. 124
2.  ibid., p. 216

Sotheby’s.