Very rare work about the trade of European countries, especially France, with Egypt and India. It discusses many different goods and their prices, in multiple currencies, the weights and measurements used in Egypt, and offers advice to French traders in the region. The author also explains the new route he uses to reach India from Marseille, namely via Egypt and the Red Sea, illustrated by a very large map. This was before the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), which meant he had to cross Egypt on horseback or with camels. The work is very rare, as we have not been able to trace any copies of it in any sales records of the past 100 years.
Even before there were any concrete plans to build the Suez Canal, Europeans were highly aware of the fact that India could be reached much faster via Egypt. The French in particular knew that being in control of Egypt could mean being in control of the trade with India. However, when the Ottomans conquered Egypt in the early 16th century, they no longer allowed European ships in the Red Sea. France obeyed, because it preferred to stay at peace with the Ottoman Empire. The British East India Company then was the first to come to an agreement for the use of the route in 1773, gaining a head start on other interested parties. The French were spurred into action as a result and were able to conclude a commercial treaty of their own in 1785. Dominique Froment (dates unknown) was a French merchant who spent many years in Egypt. As such, he was one of the first to make use of this new route and explore what it had to offer, which he details in the present work.
The blue wrappers are frayed around the edges and somewhat shorter than the book block on the fore-edge, the spine is rubbed, with some loss of material, showing the sewing underneath. Signatures C and K have been printed on a slightly different colour of paper, as usual, the edges of the leaves are somewhat frayed, some leaves are slightly foxed. Otherwise in good condition. BM, General Catalogue, p. 1137/99; WorldCat 257525366, 36664471, 560891486, 1143119579, 944725772, 457448582 (6 copies); cf. Kimche, D., The reopening of the Red Sea to European ships in the late eighteenth century. In: Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 8 (1), 1972, pp. 63-71.