Description and travel, Social life and customs, DS57 .N47 1889
Later edition of this landmark of the French Romantic view of the Orient, and the second edition to bear a preface by Théophile Gautier. "The... Show moreLater edition of this landmark of the French Romantic view of the Orient, and the second edition to bear a preface by Théophile Gautier. "The Orient was for Gautier and his friends, Nerval, Baudelaire, Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Barbey D'Aurevilly, Arsène Houssaye, and many others, that elsewhere where they could find beauty and escape from the ugliness of their society" (Dahab). Like his contemporaries Flaubert and Baudelaire, Gérard de Nerval felt drawn to the East, making his voyage in the 1840s and immersing himself in Arab culture; in Cairo his travelling companion even bought a slave-girl. Gautier's preface in the present edition notes that by the 1870s Nerval's account of the Orient could be found on the shelves of any "well-composed" library. Gautier also praises Nerval's perceptive rendering of the "respect which Islam accords to those souls visited by God" (p. I). Gautier himself had also visited the Middle East in the 1850s, although his account of these travels was not published until 1877. As Dahab describes it, "Gautier partook in the tendency of a whole generation around the 1840s who made of exotism a dream come true"; the influence of the Orient on the French imagination in the late 19th century cannot be underestimated. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Main Heritage Shelves General DS57 .N47 1889 Book vol.1 Item-ID: i16873506 BIB-ID: 1510766 Show less
Description and travel, Social life and customs, DS57 .N47 1889
Later edition of this landmark of the French Romantic view of the Orient, and the second edition to bear a preface by Théophile Gautier. "The... Show moreLater edition of this landmark of the French Romantic view of the Orient, and the second edition to bear a preface by Théophile Gautier. "The Orient was for Gautier and his friends, Nerval, Baudelaire, Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Barbey D'Aurevilly, Arsène Houssaye, and many others, that elsewhere where they could find beauty and escape from the ugliness of their society" (Dahab). Like his contemporaries Flaubert and Baudelaire, Gérard de Nerval felt drawn to the East, making his voyage in the 1840s and immersing himself in Arab culture; in Cairo his travelling companion even bought a slave-girl. Gautier's preface in the present edition notes that by the 1870s Nerval's account of the Orient could be found on the shelves of any "well-composed" library. Gautier also praises Nerval's perceptive rendering of the "respect which Islam accords to those souls visited by God" (p. I). Gautier himself had also visited the Middle East in the 1850s, although his account of these travels was not published until 1877. As Dahab describes it, "Gautier partook in the tendency of a whole generation around the 1840s who made of exotism a dream come true"; the influence of the Orient on the French imagination in the late 19th century cannot be underestimated. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Main Heritage Shelves General DS57 .N47 1889 Book vol.2 Item-ID: i2262112x BIB-ID: 1510766 Show less
