In the Footsteps of Zarafa, First Giraffe in France
A Chronicle of Giraffomania, 1826–1845- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 2020
Summary
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.
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 2020
- ISBN-Print
- 978-1-5381-4223-3
- ISBN-Online
- 978-1-5381-4225-7
- Publisher
- Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 186
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- CONTENTS No access
- AUTHOR’S NOTE No access
- FOREWORD No access
- PREFACE No access
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No access
- 1. THE GIRAFFE BEFORE ZARAFA: A Polymorphous Monster No access Pages 1 - 12
- 2. ILLUSTRIOUS GODPARENTS: A Predestined Animal No access Pages 13 - 24
- 3. THE PASHA’S GIFT: Diplomacy at Stake No access Pages 25 - 36
- 4. ZARAFA IN FRANCE: A Royal Triumph No access Pages 37 - 52
- 5. THE ANIMAL UNDER A MAGNIFYING GLASS: An Aberration of Nature No access Pages 53 - 66
- 6. BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION: An Animal at a Price No access Pages 67 - 92
- 7. TRADE AND GIRAFFOMANIA: Marketing Materials No access Pages 93 - 108
- 8. POLITICAL CARICATURE: A Satirical Weapon No access Pages 109 - 140
- 9. ZARAFA’S LEGACY: An Existential Fable No access Pages 141 - 156
- NOTES No access Pages 157 - 162
- BIBLIOGRAPHY No access Pages 163 - 172
- INDEX No access Pages 173 - 184
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR No access Pages 185 - 186





