The Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte, has been destroyed by fire during the clashes between protestors and military forces in Cairo. As well as the fire, which ripped through the building on Saturday, firefighting attempts also resulted in the building being flooded, further damaging what remained of the manuscripts. A recovery operation is underway to salvage the remaining works. An original copy of the Description de l'Egypte is believed lost to the fire.
Article on the Insitute on napoleon.org (in French)
The destruction of the Institute of Egypt in the news (Google News aggregator, external link)