First edition of this uncommon study of the major international diplomatic crisis provoked by Mehmed Ali's expansionist policy (cf. Carré I, 294; Blackmer 261; Atabey 179; Walch, 398; Hage Chahine, 748).
Some foxing, occasional reading marks in pencil and red pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs.
Late 19th-century Bradel bindings in half khaki percaline, flat spines decorated with a gilt fleuron, gilt double rules at foot of spines, black shagreen title-pieces, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved, corners rubbed.
At the end of the first volume, the work is complete with the folding plate representing the Battle of Nezib.
Edmond de Cadalvène (1799–1852) served as embassy attaché, then as director of the French postal service in Alexandria, Smyrna, and later Constantinople; his knowledge of the Orient, and particularly Egypt, was vast and multifaceted. As for the Saint-Simonian Émile Barrault (1799–1869), he followed a more conventional political path: he travelled to Egypt to accompany Father Enfantin in his quest for the Woman and universal regeneration...