Original manuscript of a travelogue of Egypt and the Levant

Jacquesson, Ernest, French civil engineer (1831-1860). "Voyage en Égypte et en Palestine: notes et souvenirs". Autograph manuscript.

€ 12.500,00

The original manuscript of Jacquesson's travelogue of Egypt and the Levant, written in connection with the preparations for the building of the Suez Canal (1859-69) and published in 1857. The civil engineer Ernest Jacquesson had travelled to Egypt together with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the father of the Suez Canal, and other members of the "Commission Internationale pour le percement de l'isthme de Suez" founded in 1855. In the preface, Jacquesson announces that he shall not write about the Canal project, as his friend, the politician and journalist Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire, has already published "a series of highly interesting articles" on the subject, but will rather focus on "observations of the country, the mores and customs of its inhabitants, and on gathering interesting peculiarities" that he personally witnessed. The subsequent trip to Palestine is set in a context with the Crimean War: "At the current moment all eyes are directed towards Egypt [...] and towards Palestine considering the reforms that the new state of affairs, resulting from the Crimean War, will bring there imminently".

The journey lasted from November 1855 to April 1856, leading from Alexandria to Cairo, Upper Egypt, Nubia, via Alexandria to Jaffa, Ramla, Jerusalem, Jericho and back to Paris via Jerusalem and Marseille. Jacquesson and his company visited the most important monuments of Egypt and the Holy Land. On 30 November 1855 they enjoyed an audience in Cairo with Mohamed Sa'id Pasha of Egypt, who held a military parade in honour of his French guests. According to Jacquesson, de Lesseps introduced him and his companions individually to Sa'id Pasha.

As Jacquesson states in the preface, his notes had been previously published in the "Journal de la Marne" between June and September 1856, dating the present fair copy to between late 1856 and 1857.

Both covers somewhat dusty and soiled. The first fascicle shows a very minor waterstain affecting the right margin of a few pages; the cover leaf has several tears (partly affecting the title), some of which are restored. Some browning and stains overall, minor tears to the margins. The accompanying typescript is on French typewriter paper watermarked "Johannot et Cie Extra Strong", produced between ca. 1913 and 1936, showing punched holes and occasional light staining. Altogether in excellent state of preservation.