Sometimes you can just find the coolest information online!
I am currently reading a book by Australian writer Anthony O’Neill, called The Empire of Eternity. It has a great undercurrent of historical conspiracy that draws Queen Victoria and Napoleon into the story. One of the main characters in the story is Vivant Denon, the author of a book on Egypt, credited with bringing Egypt and its wonders to the West.
Not content to let this live as fiction, I was doing a little bit of digging and found this cool site that provides access to some of the greatest texts of antiquity. The Digital Assets Repository of Bibliotheca Aleaxandrina has Denon’s book available as PDF … and many other priceless texts that would otherwise be restricted to the gloved hands of scholars. What more could you want … an online library of ancient stories … it will be like looking into the blogosphere of the ancient world.
Now, if only I can get my user ID and password to work!
S.