In the Footsteps of Zarafa, First Giraffe in France

LEBLEU, OLIVIER

ISBN 10: 1538142244 / ISBN 13: 9781538142240

Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2020

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781538142240

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In the Footsteps of Zarafa, First Giraffe in France
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1538142244
• ISBN 13: 9781538142240
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This engaging account traces the remarkable history of France's first giraffe, a diplomatic gift from Egyptian Pasha Muhammed-Ali to King Charles X in 1826. “Zarafa,” taken by boat from Egypt to Marseilles and walked all the way to Paris, was accompanied by her Arab handlers and a famous French naturalist. She drew vast crowds along her route, sparking a giraffomania that was widely documented in art and literature. Her initial journey and then long and celebrated residence in Paris encapsulates nineteenth-century French socio-political history and highlights the emerging evolutionary theories of the time. Over fifty illustrations from the period illuminate this rare encounter with a unique animal that is now endangered and deserving of our greater attention and understanding.

About the Author

A writer, novelist, and translator from La Rochelle, France, where Zarafa has been preserved in a local museum, Olivier Lebleu has researched and written about the “first giraffe of France” for fifteen years. This book is a translation of his celebrated history, Les Avatars de Zarafa (Arléa, 2006), later followed by his play, Le Talisman de la Girafe (Amok, 2017).



Cynthia T. Hahn is professor of French at Lake Forest College, Illinois. A published poet, she has translated ten novels, collections of short stories, and volumes of poetry by Algerian, French, and Lebanese authors.