Letters from Egypt

From the introductory page:

"Florence Nightingale was twenty-nine when she visited Egypt in the winter of 1849-50 with her friends, Charles and Selina Bracebridge. A journey to the fabled land of the Arabian Nights was an adventure at that time and Florence wrote long, picturesque letters to her family describing her visit and her views on the country, its history and its people. These letters were edited and privately printed by her sister, Parthenope, in 1854 and were greatly admired by those who read them, but they have never before been published. For this first, illustrated edition, the original collection has bee edited and introduced by Anthony Sattin.

Attractive, intelligent and extremely well-read, Miss Nightingale was one of the earliest women to record such a journey and she researched her subject well. Her letters are a fascinating account of life in a country whose greatest asset, its past, had only recently been discovered. They are also a valuable record of a way of life which has since vanished, as waves of tourists and the building of the Aswan Dam have changed the country for ever. And they are an extraordinary insight into the character of a woman who within five years was to become a legend, who at this time, despite her elegant appearance, was suffering inner torments because of a call from God to which she felt unable to respond.

The brilliant landscapes and unimaginable colours of Egypt also drew artists from all over Europe in the mid-nineteenth century. Letters from Egypt is illustrated throughout with the glorious paintings and lithographs of David Roberts, Theodore Frere, Edward Lear and others, conveying something of the romance in store for the traveller to the land of the pharaohs."