Institut d'Égypte.

Annuaire de la République Française, calculé pour le méridien du Kaire, l’an IX de l’ère Française.

Cairo, de l’Imprimerie Nationale, an IX [1800/1801].

4⁰. 1-58, [4], 61- 68 pp., [2], 48 pp. With a woodcut printer’s device on title.

Contemporary blank paper covers.

Second and last volume of the Institut d'Égypte’s almanac, in which, for the first time, the empirical measurements of Egypt by the “savants” were published. Printed at Napoleon’s printing press in Cairo, the introduction of modern printing by the French to the Arab-speaking world marked "an extraordinarily important turning point" (Glass & Roper). The press operated for only four years, and its publications are true incunabula of Arab printing—now exceedingly rare.

The present Annuaire was prioritized for printing as it provided Europeans stationed in Egypt with essential practical information for everyday life. It was printed in 1799 and pertained to the year VIII of the French Republican calendar (1799/1800). A year later, a second volume of the Annuaire was published, for the year IX.

Bonaparte's Army of the Orient was not only a military force but also a scientific and literary expedition, composed of scholars known as "savants." Dozens of France's leading linguists, scientists, archaeologists, and artists accompanied the expedition. The savants were united in the Institut d'Égypte, and early on, a special commission of the Institut was tasked with publishing the results of their research in an almanac, which would be highly useful for the French stationed in Egypt.

They wished to publish the first almanac sooner, but during the outbreak of violence during the October Cairo Revolt, many of the scientific instruments that the French had brought with them were destroyed, including the printing workshops. By 14 January 1799, the printers were capable of working at full capacity again.

The almanac provides navigational tables, a concordance between the Muslim and French Republican calendars, a comparison of French and Egyptian units of measure, data on the speed of Nile currents, and much more. It also includes information about the personnel in the Army of the Orient, listing members of the administration, finances, the Commission of Sciences and Arts, the Institute, and so on.

Due to their ephemeral nature, almanacs are generally rare, as is the case with these. The first issue is particularly rare, with only one complete copy traced in the British Library and an incomplete one in the BnF, with none traced elsewhere.

Copies: Qnl: only IX; BnF: VIII only 87 pp.; incomplete?, IX; Yale: only IX; LoC: only IX; BL: VIII & IX (not checked).

Condition:

Wholly untrimmed. Covers slightly worn and ink stained. “An IX” in ink on front cover, ink eaten through the paper. Stain on pp. 29-30, faint stain on pp. 45-48. Otherwise in very good condition.

Reference:

Guémard, p. 25 & 46; Geiss 17; De Meulenaere 17.

Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper, ‘The Printing of Arabic Books in the Arab World’, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution, Mainz: Gutenberg Museum, 2002, pp. 177-225.

Geoffrey Roper, “The printing press and change in the Arab world”, in: Agent of change: print cultural studies after Elizabeth Eisenstein. Amherst & Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, in association with the Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007, pp. 250-267.

Fawzi M. Tadrus, Printing in the Arab World with an emphasis on the Bulaq Press in Egypt, [Doha] : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Qatar, [1982], pp. 61-77.