Books in Mini Album series

Egyptian hieroglyphics and images ensured the well-being of the dead in the world beyond. Every breathtaking picture reproduced here--in a remarkable-looking volume bound in real papyrus--comes from Thebes, and represents one version of the great national funeral work copied by scribes from about 900 b.c. to 600 b.c. The early history of the Book of the Dead remains shrouded in the mists of remote antiquity, but its origin was considered divine--often attributed to the god Osiris. These evocative and glowing paintings show the sun god Ra on the Night Boat, towed on the waters under the earth; a delicate blue-and-white image, originally drawn on plaster, of Nebamun hunting in the marshes; and, from the tomb of the pharaoh Ramses VI, a grand ceiling mural decorated with astronomical scenes.

Why the Mariner stops three young men bidden to a wedding feast makes a fascinating and morally rich tale told in rhyme. In the seaman's story, the very simple act of shooting an albatross brings terrifying bad luck--and until the Mariner understands the meaning of what he has done, there can be no repentance. Just like the wedding guest in the poem, who feels himself compelled to listen, readers will become spellbound by the rhythm, language, and complexity of Coleridge's timeless classic. Doré's marvelous drawings capture all the mysterious atmosphere of the poem's events and many locations, from the most elegant mansions to the wild open sea.