Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte pendant les années 1783, 1784 et 1785 (Cambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor)

The French author and traveller Constantin-François de Chasseboeuf (1757–1820) adopted the pen name Volney, which combined the name of Voltaire and Ferney, where the great philosopher lived. A friend of Thomas Jefferson and other Enlightenment figures, Volney used an inheritance to further his education by travelling to Ottoman Egypt and the historical region of Syria, visiting areas of present-day Lebanon and Israel. He chose these lands as he believed he would gain political and philosophical insights from their ancient heritage. Very little had been written in the West about these areas before he published this two-volume account in 1787. It enjoyed great popularity and even accompanied Darwin aboard the Beagle on his own voyage of discovery decades later. Reissued here is the revised and corrected French second edition, which also appeared in 1787. Volume 2 is devoted to Syria. It looks in detail at the region's history, justice, trade and customs.