#OA45
1839
259 p. 24x16 cm.
Sarlavla title page decorated with traditional ornamental motifs. Original full leather binding with miklep (traditional envelope flap), boards stamped with an embossed şemse (mystical sun) medallion. Very good condition. Binding is slightly rubbed. Small hole in the middle of the fist page.
The first Ottoman Turkish translation of this work—known in the Arab world simply as a “Seyâhatnâme” (travelogue).
Among the earliest examples of modern Arab-Egyptian travel literature, the text records Rifāʿa al-Ṭahṭāwī’s observations during his residence in Paris (1826–1831), undertaken as part of the educational and diplomatic mission dispatched by Muḥammad ʿAlī Pasha to examine European systems of learning, administration, and cultural life. It offers a wide-ranging portrayal of French society, treating such subjects as politics and government, educational institutions, religious life, urban and social organization, and everyday customs.
This work was first published by A. Caussin de Perceval under the title “Relation d’un voyage en France” in Arabic, but not in full. It was later published in Cairo two times in Arabic and one time in Turkish, the complete French translation was published by Anouar Louca under the title L’or de Paris: Relation de voyage, 1826-1831 (Paris 1988).
An English translation was made by Daniel L. Newman as An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by an Egyptian Cleric 1826–1831 (London 2002).
Extremely rare. The only copy in US is at Library of Congress, according to Worldcat.
