Hadji Abd-el-Hamid Bey (L[ouis-Laurent] du Couret). Les mystères du désert. Souvenirs de voyages en Asie et en Afrique.

€ 950.00

First edition.

The French traveller L. du Couret (1812-67) is said to have made his first journey to the East in 1836, joining the Egyptian army in Syria and visiting Nubia, Senner, Kordofan, and Darfur. He states that he embraced Islam and made the pilgrimage to Mecca. He remains a dubious character, and some critics have even doubted his existence, attributing his works to the imagination of Alexandre Dumas père, author of the "Three Musketeers", who at least contributed a preface to du Couret's 1854 "Voyage au Pays des Niam-Niams".