Between 1858 and 1860, the French archaeologist and Egyptologist Émile Prisse d’Avennes (1807–1879) led a scientific expedition to Egypt. The expedition was intended to provide material for the publication of two illustrated books, one on Pharaonic art (Histoire de l’art égyptien) and the other on Arab art (L’Art arabe). Prisse d’Avennes recruited the Dutch painter Willem de Famars Testas (1834–1896) and the French photographer Édouard Jarrot (1835–1873) to accompany him on his expedition (De Hond, 2013, pp. 69, 71).
Prisse d’Avennes had visited the Middle East before: he had worked for a few years as an engineer in the service of the viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, and then made several large expeditions through the region on his own. He excavated and collected an important collection of ancient Egyptian art (De Hond, 2013, pp. 70–71).
The lithographs in the Oriental Album. Characters, Costumes, and Modes of Life in the Valley of the Nile, written by James Augustus St. John (1795–1875) and published in 1848, were made from original sketches by Prisse d’Avennes, as indicated on the title page of the book: ‘illustrated from designs taken on the spot by E. Prisse’. Some of the originals are partly archived in the Prisse fonds (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, département des Manuscrits, fonds Prisse d’Avennes) (De Hond, 2013, p. 78).
In 1877, Émile Prisse d’Avennes published his influential book L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe. The plates of the first two volumes of this seminal publication had previously appeared in 1869.

Memberships:
Commission of the Egyptian Section of the World’s Fair 1867
Association littéraire d’Égypte / Egyptian Literary Association, founded in 1842 by Prisse d’Avennes and Henry Abbott

De Hond, J. (2013). "Ceci aura néanmoins probablement son utilité": Willem de Famars Testas au Caire, 1858-1860. In: M. Volait (ed.), Le Caire dessiné et photographié au XIXe siècle (pp. 69-94). Paris: Picard.

St. John, James Augustus (1848). Oriental album. Characters, costumes and modes of life, in the valley of the Nile. Illustrated from designs taken on the spot, by E. Prisse. With descriptive lettrer-press, by James Augustus St John, author of "Egypt and Mohammed Ali", and "Manners and customs of ancient Greece". London: James Madden.

Volait, M. (ed.)(2013). Émile Prisse d’Avennes (1807–1879). Un artiste-antiquaire en Égypte au XIXᵉ siècle. Le Caire: IFAO.