Item #199 [AFRICA] Puteshestvie po nizhnemu Yegiptu i vnutrennim oblastiam delty [i.e. Travel to the Lower Egypt and the Inner Regions of the Delta]. A. A. Rafalovich.
[AFRICA] Puteshestvie po nizhnemu Yegiptu i vnutrennim oblastiam delty [i.e. Travel to the Lower Egypt and the Inner Regions of the Delta]

[AFRICA] Puteshestvie po nizhnemu Yegiptu i vnutrennim oblastiam delty [i.e. Travel to the Lower Egypt and the Inner Regions of the Delta]

St. Petersburg: Typ. of Yakov Trey, 1850. Item #199

xii, 433 pp. Octavo. With four lithographed maps (three folding). Contemporary diced half leather with marbled paper boards, neatly re-cased using the original spine; spine with raised bands, gilt lettered title label and blind stamped library numbers. Previous owner’s inscription on the half title and the title page, 19th century library stamps on the first free endpaper, p. 33, and p. 219, corners slightly bumped, occasional pencil marks in the text, otherwise a very good copy.

First and only edition. Very rare (one paper copy found in Worldcat).
Interesting account of a travel of the Russian doctor and criminal medical expert Artemii Rafalovich (1816-1851) to Lower Egypt on the special assignment of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs to research plague and quarantine measures undertaken by the government of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. During his travel in 1846-1848 Rafalovich visited Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Algeria and Tunisia and conducted thorough epidemiological research. After his return he became a member of the Russian Geographical Society (1849) and of the Imperial Medical Council – the highest medical institution in Russia (1850).

The book is focused on his travel in the Nile delta and the Lower Egypt up to Cairo in 1847-1848. Rafalovich describes Rosetta and Damietta distributaries of the Nile, Alexandria, barrage dams, numerous villages on the Nile banks, notes about common diseases of people and stock, hospitals and medicine in general, death rate of the local population et al. He also gives a wide overview of geography, climate, flora and fauna, economy and population of the Lower Egypt. The last chapter of the second part describes his visit to Muhammad Ali of Egypt in April 1848 – as a doctor Rafalovich was invited to examine the Khedive of Egypt who showed signs of a mental disorder (Muhammad Ali was declared senile in 1848 and died in August 1849). The maps include a large folding map of lower Egypt from Alexandria and Damietta to Cairo, plans of the old and renovated village Kafr-Ziat and a plan of the Nile barrage.

Overall valuable rare piece of Russian Africana with interesting notes about anti-plague measures.

Sold

See all items in Travel
See all items by