8vo. 367 pp. / 362 pp. / 379 pp. / 383 pp., large folding map at rear, lightly worn but without any loss, half-titles, volumes 1-3 in trade paper and marbled outer edges, minor foxing, volume 4 in contemporary half-calf, title gilt on raised spine and speckled outer edges. Volumes 1-3, Louis Desessart, Paris, first edition, 1838 / Volume 4, L. Passard, Paris, 1843.

Synopsis

The French alliance with Mohammed Ali Pasha of Egypt helped more French scientific expeditions to Sudan, Abyssinia, and the Red Sea. It was this journey that opened the vast area of Abyssinia to French influence and expeditions later.
In the context of Anglo-French rivalry in the Horn of Africa, the Saint-Simonians sent to Abyssinia between February 1835 and March 1837 Maurice Tamisier and Edmond Combes to carry out reconnaissance works for the establishment of a utopian colony based on the conceptions of ” A renewed Christianity, equality of races, an egalitarian society, and free trade. However, their journey to Abyssinia focused mainly on the impediments and setbacks they encountered along their itinerary from one feudal kingdom to another. As a result of this trip, Compagnie Nanto-Bordelaise acquired Edd’s territory, marking the beginning of European colonialism in East Africa; But she did not succeed in profiting by the commerce which she launched there. The Saint-Simonians turned to other projects, without disclosing exactly what they meant by the search for the “free woman.”
Bibliographic references: Gay 2616; Brunet IV, 20816; Graesse, II 233. For 1838 first edition.