It was formed by Roger Khawam, who comes from a long line of Egyptian antiques dealers. They founded a business in 1860 in Cairo, which moved to Paris in 1977.
Khawam, who studied Egyptology at the Sorbonne and became a life member of the Egypt Exploration Society and the French Society of Egyptology, augmented the library started by his father by adding catalogues from major museums and collections like the BM and the Cairo Museum, as well as important records of archaeological excavations and the entire works of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale.
The ensemble of some 2500 volumes will be offered in a 260-lot sale.
The larger, mixed-owner sale the following day begins with a 160-lot Egyptian section that includes several of the day's potential highlights.
Among them are a 20in (51cm) high 26th dynasty greywacke stone statue of Padiheka, an official with the role of director of the Pure Chamber, which is guided at €600,000-800,000; a New Kingdom granodiorite head of an official from a block statue with a provenance to a string of private collections including that of Lady Meux, guided at €150,000-200,000; and a rare 4in (10cm) long Middle Kingdom Egyptian blue model of a hippopotamus, notable for its fine state of preservation, which is guided at €180,000-200,000.
