ABSTRACT
Sir William Gell was one of the great classical scholars of his day. To understand the peculiar nature of Gell's influence upon the development of Egyptology, it is necessary to realize that besides being a scholar, he also was an intellectual intermediary. Despite the breadth of his classical work, Gell's imagination ranged yet further, for he was especially interested in Egypt, having participated in the excitement and speculation that abounded in the aftermath of Napoleon's Egyptian expedition. Furthermore, Gell, an erudite man and avid book collector, was well acquainted with the Egyptian material in the Hermetic and Neoplatonist writings, as well as virtually every other Egyptological work, ancient and modern. Gell's broader Egyptological contacts included such people as Baron Christian von Bunsen and the tragically misdirected Gustavus Seyffarth. Though neither Bunsen nor Seyffarth made many original contributions to Egyptology, Gell's dealings with them served to heighten his understanding of the state of the art.
