RAWLINSON H., “Persian Cuneiform inscription at Behistun, deciphered and translated with a Memoir of Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions”, London, (special edition of Royal Asiatic Society), 1846. First and only edition of a major scientific discovery. Small 4to (22x15). Complete pp. 348,23,192,22,83 including all the 22 large folded lithographed plates (some frayed at the edges). Modern cloth. A clean set. The translation of Behistun inscription (25x15meters) is, for the ancient Persian language, what was the translation of the Rozetta stone, few years before, for the Agyptian Hieroglyphic. Authored by Darius the Great around 500BC, the trilingual rock relief inscription was situated on a high, isolated plateau in western Persia, on the road between the capitals of Babylonia and Media. The inscription was noticed by three travelers, between 1598 and 1773, but rediscovered and studied by Rawlinson in 1835. He spent three years to decipherment the inscription making possible the understanding of ancient Persian and Assyrian languages. Rawlinson presented his results to the Royal Asiatic Society which published 150 copies of this scientific discovery. Rare.