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English edition
Feb
2004
448 pp.
Hardbound
13.5X21.5 cm
$29.95
LE 150.00
ISBN
978 977 424 850 4
For sale only in Egypt
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Alexandria
A History and a Guide & Pharos and Pharillon
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E.M. Forster
The definitive edition of Forster’s Alexandrian books
Alexandria: A History and a Guide was written when E.M.Forster was working in the city for the Red Cross during the First World War. Pharos and Pharillon is a collection of essays and sketches written during the same period for the local press, and similarly informed by the remarkable range of historical, theological, and philosophical reading to which Forster devoted himself when preparing his ‘sort of guide.’
The first part of Alexandria unfolds a witty, engagingly personal history of the city, from its foundation by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, through the Ptolemies and Cleopatra, Roman, Arab, and Turkish occupation, and Napoleon’s disastrous Egyptian campaign, to the cosmopolitan city of the early twentieth century. The primary focus, though, is on Alexandria’s Golden Age, its poets, philosophers, and scientists, which for Forster ended with the Arab conquest in the seventh century. In the Guide section he takes us on a personal tour of the city and its environs, reanimating ancient Alexandria as he wanders through the busy modern streets. ‘Alexandria,’ he concludes,’ is still alive and alters when one tries to sum her up.’
Alexandria’s bizarre publishing history ensured a chronic shortage of copies, which meant that the close connection between it and Pharos and Pharillon long remained unrecognized and—indeed until now—not fully documented. The Appendices gathered in the present volume include Forster’s poignant memoir for Mohammed el Adl, the young Egyptian with whom he fell in love. It is published here in full for the first time and followed by the original text of his Preface for Alexandria’s revised edition of 1938; his retrospective talk on The Lost Guide’ given at Aldeburgh in 1956; a survey of his important ‘Notes on Egypt’ for the Labour Party’s 1921 pamphlet on ‘The Government of Egypt’; and selected reviews of the two Alexandrian books—covering 1922–61—which demonstrate that though Pharos and Pharillon for long remained more widely known, Alexandria’s special qualities were immediately recognized by those fortunate enough to procure a copy.
‘Forster critically examines the fundamental assumptions of his age by tracing the roots of Western thought and mores which for good or ill were nurtured in ancient Alexandria. Miriam Allott’s scholarly text and notes brilliantly guide the way . . . . ’Michael Haag
Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) was one of the most respected literary figures of his age. Among his best known novels are A Room with a View, A Passage to India, Howard's End, and Maurice. Alexandria: A History and a Guide was inspired by the time he spent in Egypt during the First World War, and was first published in 1922, followed, in 1923, by Pharos and Pharillon.
The editor of this volume, Miriam Allott, held professorships at London and at Liverpool, including a position as A.C. Bradley professor of modern literature.
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