ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΡΙΖΟΣ ΡΑΓΚΑΒΗΣ (Alexandros Rizos Ragnavis): (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΕΣ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΕΣ) Antiquites Helleniques.ΑΘΗΝΑ (Athenes) 1842 First edition,ROYAL FOLIO (first ever Folio published in Athens),later leather over boards,large uncut copy,ex libris at front past down of the Manoir de Roncheville and the famous Petritzi collection, text clean, some water stain in the down part of title page and first ten pages, some scattered spotting or foxing in some pages,overall clean and in very good condition, complete 418p., nine engravings and one folded map. The nine engravings are among the very early printed in Athens. The huge (70x52cm) lithograph map of the Aegean, engraved in the Royal Lithography in Athens, designed and signed by Nikolaos Steroyannis ( ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ ΣΤΕΡΟΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ,1809-1872), a pupil of Foster and among the very first cartographers of the new Greek state, is a master piece of Greek early cartography of the outmost rarity.The map has been published separately,here inserted in the book and saved.About the famous map: Steroyannis was originated from Epirus and settled in Athens after the independence.He became pupil of Foster,when he arrived to direct the newly established Lithography in the mid 1830s and wanted to settle a team of Greeks engravers and cartographers. During the 1840s and very early 1850s Steroyannis produced few maps (among the very first produced by a Greek in Athens), actually they are extremely rare. He moved in the mid 1850s to Constantinople who could find better opportunities and issued other maps there. The publication of Antiquités Helléniques by Rangavis marked a monumental turning point for the newly independent Greek state. Published in Athens, Imprimerie Royale, it was the first major scientific archaeological work produced by the Greek state itself. Rangavis was a Renaissance man of the 19th-century Greek world,a diplomat, poet, and archaeologist. As a leading figure of the Greek Enlightenment, his goal was to reclaim the Greek past at the new Greek home. The book is primarily a collection of Greek inscriptions found during the early excavations on the Acropolis and around Athens. Rangavis studied these to reconstruct the laws, religious practices, and history of ancient Athens.In 1842, the Acropolis was a construction site. Rangavis was deeply involved in the cleansing of the Parthenon from Ottoman and Medieval additions. This book is a unique source that documents the artifacts found during that process. Rangavis was signaling to Europe with this publication that Greece was no longer just a ruin to be studied by outsiders, but a modern nation capable of managing its own heritage.A landmark of Greek Enlightenment at his very final stage,with the establishment of the Greek state.Coupled with a unique map