Frederic Louis Norden


Frederic Louis Norden was a Danish naval captain, cartographer, and archaeological explorer.
He is the author in French of one of the very first travelogues about Egypt, Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie., written half a century before Napoleon's expedition.
He is also known as Frederick, Frederik, Friderick, Ludwig, Ludvig and Lewis, names used on the publications of his famous

Biography

Norden was born in Holstein-Glückstadt. He entered the Danish Naval Academy at Copenhagen in 1722.
He was sent on a study mission abroad in 1732. Norden made a voyage through Egypt all the way down to Sudan in 1737-1738. At the request of King Christian VI of Denmark, he was to enter into a trade agreement with Ethiopia on behalf of Denmark. Norden made abundant notes, observations and drawings of everything around him, including people, pharaonic monuments, architecture, installations and maps.
On 8 January 1741 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. He died of tuberculosis the following year in Paris. Norden had prepared the publication of his travel notes all of which were published in the posthumous Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie. Carl Marcus Tuscher from Nuremberg made the drawings into copperplates for the publication. In 1757 an English edition was published, in 1779 a German edition and in 1795 a French edition.

Works

  • , 1741

Additional reading