Isaac Taylor - Etruscan Researches - 1874

A very RARE and beautiful and interesting book by Isaac Taylor...."Etruscan Researches". First 1874 edition. Dark orange publisher's cloth with black rules on the boards, a gilt decoration ruled in black on the front board, gold lettering and black decorations on the spine. Isaac Taylor was a grammatologist, a philologist, and a historian. He was descended from both the engravers named Isaac Taylor. After spending a winter in Italy, Taylor composed a history of the Estruscan language, arguing it was a member of the Altaic and Finno-Ugrian language families. To this day, the exact origin of the Etruscan language is still debated, although modern scholars generally agree that it's a pre-Indo-European language unique to one region of Italy and to Lemnos, Greece. The Etruscans were an important and complex people, their legacy is now shrouded in questions thanks to the loss of Etruscan papyri and other artifacts. Though Taylor was incorrect about the origins of the Etruscan language, he was a pioneer of comparative philology and made huge contributions to the historical study of ancient and modern Indian and Mediterranean writing systems and alphabets. Book in very good condition. Inside complete, very light stains but overall very clean. Externally light wear around edges and corners, shelfwear, spine a bit sunned.
Uncommon. Rarity.