1-273-483 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Right Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople, 1877. Between 1845 and 1851, Layard (1817-1894) excavated the remains of the ancient Assyrian capitals of Nimrud and Nineveh and revealed the reliefs that decorated the royal palaces. These and other objects recovered from Mesopotamia astonished Europe and Layard's account of his discoveries became a best-seller. In 1851 he retired from excavation to take up a life in politics. From Men of Mark: a gallery of contemporary portraits of men distinguished in the Senate, the Church, in science, literature and art, the army, navy, law, medicine, etc. Photographed from life by Lock and Whitfield, with brief biographical notices by Thompson Cooper. (London, 1876-1883).