THE LION OF AMPHIPOLIS: A lecture delivered before an open meeting of the French School of Archaeology at Athens. In the Presence of His Majesty, George II King of the Hellenes by The Honorable Lincoln Mac Veagh, American Minister to Greece.

Macveagh, Lincoln.

Published by Athens, Greece: 1937., 1937

About this Item

Athens, Greece: 1937., 1937. Very good. - Octavo, 10 inches high by 7-1/4 inches wide. Softcover, bound in cream printed wrappers. The covers are slightly soiled with some foxing and the edges are very slightly creased. 12 pages, including the wrappers, illustrated with 2 diagrams (maps) showing the location of Amphipolis and 4 photographic illustrations. The corners of a few pages are bumped. Very good. RARE. WorldCat locates only 2 copies. The lecture is for the most part an account of the progress of the restoration of "The Lion of Amphipolis" to date. "While the collaboration of the French and American Schools was thus producing unexpected results, the Greek authorities were also helping, and besides giving the whole enterprise their blessing, kindly accorded the schools the collaboration of Mr. Panayiotakis of the National Museum. This able sculptor spent weeks at Amphipolis, again thanks to the Monks-Ulen Companies, which lent their camp and collected the necessary workmen and tools for his operations. With great effort and patience, far from the conveniences of the city, Mr. Panayiotakis successfully carried through the task of making moulds, some of them of truly gigantic size, of all the existing fragments of the Lion. From these he made casts on the spot, and again with the help of the engineers, fitted these together under an enormous shed, and provided in plaster the missing pieces to complete the whole figure. This year it is planned to put the actual fragments themselves together and make the missing parts out of marble cement of a color agreeable to the rest." Lincoln MacVeagh (1890-1972), a Renaissance man, graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1913. He went on to study languages at the Sorbonne and became fluent in German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Classical Greek. He served in the Atois, St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne campaigns of World War I as an aide to the commanding general of the 80th Division and of the Ninth and Sixth Army Corps. He rose to the rank of Major. After the war he became a director of the Henry Holt and Company publishing firm where he became friendly with the poet Robert Frost. In 1923 he left the firm and founded the Dial Press. His name appears on the imprint of many of their publications. In 1933 President Roosevelt appointed him Minister to Greece. He followed presentation of his credentials with a speech in Classical Greek. While in Greece he conducted excavations beneath the Acropolis and made archeological contributions to the National Museum in Athens. He left Greece in 1941 when the German army over ran the country. From there he was appointed the first US Minister to Iceland where he negotiated agreements for the construction of the Keflavik airfield. In late 1942 he became Minister to the Union of South Africa and coordinated American wartime agencies there. In 1943 he was sent to Cairo as Ambassador so that he could assist the governments in exile of Greece and Yugoslavia. He returned to Athens as Ambassador in 1944. MacVeagh gave secret testimony before Congress concerning the Balkans in 1947, testimony that was an important factor in the formation of the Truman Doctrine. In 1948 as Ambassador to Portugal MacVeagh was influential in admitting her into NATO. In 1952 President Truman named him Ambassador to Spain. President Truman wrote to him on March 9, 1948: "On the occasion of your appointment as Ambassador to Portugal, I would like to make some personal expression of appreciation for the high services you have already rendered your country. During the past fifteen critical years you have served with distinction as Chief of the United states Missions to Iceland, the Union of South Africa, Yugoslavia and Greece. In this last post especially - as Minister from 1933 to 1941 and as Ambassador since 1943 - your scholarly statesmanship and diplomatic judgment have been of the utmost value.".

Seller Inventory # 99498

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE LION OF AMPHIPOLIS: A lecture delivered before an open meeting of the French School of Archaeology at Athens. In the Presence of His Majesty, George II King of the Hellenes by The Honorable Lincoln Mac Veagh, American Minister to Greece.
• Publisher: Athens, Greece: 1937.
• Publication Date: 1937
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Archaeology