Set of books including Schwaller of Lubicz’s main works. Egyptologist, esotericist, alchemist, he spent 15 years in Egypt, mainly in Luxor, to study its temples’ symbolism. With a deep philosophical culture in specific fields such as alchemy, he highlights the influence of the Sacred in Egyptian architecture and he believes to have rediscovered a system of thought implemented throughout the centuries by a powerful clergy. In his masterpiece, Le Temple de l'Homme, he develops thoroughly, based on complex calculations, the idea of an ancient Egypt rooted in a mysticism based on numbers and geometry.

Rare copy of the original edition published by Caractères in 1957 - Re-edited several times since then, proof that the work has a unique value thanks to its scientific spirit and an exceptional knowledge.

Three volumes: Volume I: Texte, with illustrations inside the text: 776 pages - Volume II Planches: 101 boards with drawings or photographs, fold-out or not - Volume III: Légendes et commentaires: 410 pages. Covers printed in the editor slipcase (with slightly rubbed edges).

First edition, first printing, one of 1,000 copies on vélin supérieur, from a total edition of 1040. This is one of the Egyptology scholar, alchemist, and theosophist René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz's major work on ancient Egyptian esoterica, sacred geometry and architecture, Pharaonic thought, and symbolism. Copies of the first edition are rare, especially in such good condition. A qualified chemist and avid hermeticist, Schwaller (1887-1961) "is considered by many in the field of Egyptian esoterica to be the father of this concept of ancient Egyptian sacred science. His primary fieldwork took place at the Luxor Temple complex in Upper Egypt. The resulting study was a gargantuan consolidation of those 15 years that Schwaller and his wife, Isha, performed in the desert sands of Egypt. [The present work, The Temple of Man: Apet of the South at Luxor] is of the utmost importance to the alternative and esoteric ancient Egyptian researcher" (Hayen). Profoundly influenced by the German alchemists of the 15th and 16th century, his spiritual quest led him to work with and learn from some of the greatest minds of his time, such as Henri Matisse and Henri Bergson, who fed into his understanding of the "consciousness of the heart in concurrence with the consciousness of the intellect". Schwaller pursued his research and "came under the influence of several of the pioneers of quantum physics - Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Albert Einstein. No doubt the work of these men informed Schwaller's theosophical foundation and allowed him to make connections with science, physical realities, and the teachings of ancient cultures. In 1936, on the prompting of his wife, Isha, Schwaller headed for Egypt and remained there until 1951, researching primarily the Luxor Temple complex. According to Schwaller's findings, the ancient Egyptians were capable of creating precision beyond what is considered possible for an ancient civilization of this time - and only possible with what Schwaller called a clear and functioning 'intelligence of the heart'" (ibid.). Todd Hayen, Ancient Egypt and Modern Psychotherapy, 2016, pp. 43-6. 3 volumes, quarto. Original cream wrappers, spines and front wrappers lettered in black and brown, untrimmed, mostly unopened. 101 monochrome plates of illustrations and photographs in vol. 2, and numerous in-text diagrams and line-drawing illustrations. Minor creases and nicks to extremities, light dust-soiling, spines somewhat darkened, the wrappers otherwise sound, internally crisp; a superb set