Letters from Egypt: A Journey on the Nile, 1849-1850

by Florence Nightingale, Anthony Sattin (Editor)

Letters From Egypt is Florence's only publication not concerned with nursing. The letters reveal her as an energetic and sympathetic young woman with her life before her---but in places it is difficult not to read more into her observations, as when she described the hardships of the nun with whom she travelled to Alexandria.

Genres: Travel, Egypt, Nonfiction, History, Travelogue, Egyptology, Africa

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC was an English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence during the Crimean War for her pioneering work in nursing, and was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night to tend injured soldiers. Nightingale laid the foundation stone of professional nursing with the principles summarised in the book Notes on Nursing. The Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses was named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday.

Reviews

[Jaide · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this book had been in my house growing up; I know I would have spent hours looking at the beautiful paintings of an Egypt so long gone.
Florence Nightingale is a surprisingly poetic writer, and I enjoyed her thoughts. Of course, she displays standard Victorian-era pity/horror for the “creatures” of Egypt, but she also finds in them traits to admire.

[John Ratliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely gorgeous book, copiously illustrated, every page coffee-table quality. This thing will stand out in your library.

This book stunned me on so many levels and revealed my ignorance of vast swaths of history and areas of knowledge, especially that of ancient Egypt, which was one of the original crossroads of cultures and learning. I have long had an interest in the not as ancient city of Alexandria, which has only a tenuous relationship with the original Egypt, but this book provides another complete layer on the topic.

And then not of the least, I, like nearly all modern Americans, knew of Florence Nightingale only in connection with her fame garnered from her founding modern nursing practices out of her experience of the Crimean War of 1853. Instead, in a 1849-1850 nine month trip into Egypt we find her as a brilliant intellectual and a courageous traveler in the difficult and dangerous backwaters of Upper Egypt and Nubia, not mention her surprising ability to turn out witty aphorisms in her writings. I wish I could repeat them here, but it would be too long, and something of a spoiler. Read, and you will find these nuggets to open a smile.

One thing I liked about her letters was the interplay between her exploration of the ruins of ancient Egypt and the actual on-the-ground descriptions of how life was lived at time she was on this trip. For sure, the history of Ancient Egypt is by itself an inexhaustible subject that it takes a lifetime to master. You will not master it through this book, but rather your interest will awaken.
And once again I am stunned at the high level of education and learning many of the well-born Anglo-European in old times were able to obtain, especially compared to the thin gruel of our educational systems. I think it is referred to as “aristocratic education.” I wonder if this will ever come back or be replicated in the modern world? I doubt it.

And lastly, she solves the puzzle in my mind about the idea of Egypt compared with Arabia; she says Cairo is Arab, not Egyptian. Egypt is what is not Arab. Plus, at the end she finally a masterful job in explaining the idea of what a real Moslem Mosque is like. She thinks the Mosques of Cairo are masterpieces; whereas, those of Constantinople are “barns.” She also dislike the architecture of Constantinople as being nothing but corrupted Italian.

I will resist the urge to go on and on. You should read this book. It will make you a better person.

[Will Arbaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book during my favorite game (search the used book store stacks for something I've never heard of and never knew existed and purchase it without opening it).
All I had ever known of Ms. Nightingale was her connection to drastically improving the field of nursing. Now I know her as a poetic, classically educated, insightful and witty woman more than worthy of being a hero.
It was during this six month trip up and back down the Nile that Florence Nightingale grasped ahold of her calling to be a nurse. Amid the fabulously described and certainly not boring tableaus, represented in her letters home, she weaves with her words you can see why. Her heart aches and breaks for the poor and the oppressed that she sees daily under the mohametan regime.
She does not describe the Egypt we have seen in travelogues or documentaries. The Egypt of 1849-1850 is not prepared and sanitized for tourists. Destitute families are squatting in the temples and tombs. There is no travel guide book to tell them what this is and what that indicates. You are shoulder to shoulder with her as she translates and refers to academic texts of her time period to tell the story of each. She endures sandstorms, sand fleas, an acrobatic charge up and down the cataracts of the Nile with no net, nomadic raiders, an uncouth Pascha whom she openly detests, the boneyard of the step pyramid of Sahara, and the Pyramids of Giza. Yes...she ENDURES the Pyramids and abhors them both before and after seeing them. She is HILARIOUSLY biting in her opinion of them.
It is WELL worth the read especially if you already have a soft spot in your heart for her. The pages of images, paintings and drawings, from the same era as she visited are gorgeous and wonderfully chosen and reproduced to match where she is and the dress of those she has seen.
If you aren't familiar with her, then I highly encourage you to get to know her. I don't lightly say this, but I have fallen into a deep deep admiration for her to such a degree that I am currently looking for a bust or small portrait of her to put alongside my small busts of Aristotle and Homer that live on my desk.

[Ember Moto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of letters written by Florence to her family while she was traveling through Egypt. This was 1849-1850, she would go to the Crimea war and become the famous nurse in 1854. The letters are an interesting look into what Egypt was like in the early days of european tourism. My only complaint is Florence seems more focused on the people than the many ancient sites and monuments she is seeing. The paintings and stretch’s in the book make it worth at least a glance.

[Caleb Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting curiosity. Particularly enjoyed the section around the middle for its vivid descriptions of Luxor and Aswan and the profound effect the visit had on Nightingale. Plenty of uncomfortable reading here too though, and as letters were written to entertain or inform specific people, large tracts that are less interesting.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing learned woman in an amazing land. Beautiful in every way, the book is a work of art and love. The cover is luxurious and the pictures throughout are remarkable and make you want to visit Egypt.

[Luke]

Composed by 1850.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice pictures, probably shouldn't have tried reading months of letters like a novel.

[Avary Doubleday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read completely, but may return sometime.

[Sazuru · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read if you are interested in Egypt, or women travelers, or British in the 19th century, or the beginnings of Egyptology, etc. etc. Outstanding illustrations.

[Scott Sedar · Rating 3 out of 5]

These letters reveal another Florence Nightingale, a literate young woman in search of adventure and purpose.

[Sandy Duteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book. I enjoy history books about women.