Voyage en Syrie et en gypte pendant les annes 1783, 1784 et... - 9781108066679

Voyage en Syrie et en gypte pendant les annes 1783, 1784 et 1785Author(s): Constantin-Franois Volney\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781108066679, 978-1108066679\nSynopsis\nThe French author and traveller Constantin-Franois de Chasseboeuf [tel] 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 .