Extremely rare monograph, printed in only 90 copies, but became very authoritative among egyptologists.
An American Egyptologist, born in Memphis Tennessee but raised in Mississippi, Elizabeth Thomas is best known for her seminal work on the tombs of the Valley of the Kings. After a late start, she received her B.A. from the University of Mississippi and then, in 1938, traveled to Egypt where she spent most of her time in Luxor. There she was befriended by the American colony of Egyptologists from the University of Chicago’s field headquarters and persuaded to pursue formal study at the University’s Oriental Institute. 
In 1953, Thomas returned to Luxor on her own to begin a thorough examination of royal tombs in the Valley of the Queens, most of which had never been published nor even identified, and the king’s tombs, most of which had also not been published well as to plans, elevations and inscription. Although she privately funded most of her field seasons, Thomas also worked under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt in whose Newsletter she published reports. Her definitive study, The Royal Necropoleis of Thebes, provided the first published information on many of the queens’ tombs and is an invaluable resource for anyone studying the royal cemeteries of Thebes.