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Florence Nightingale was twenty-nine when she visited Egypt in the winter of 1849-1850 with her friends Charles and Selma Bracebridge. A journey to the fabled land of the Arabian Nights was a fantastic adventure at that time and Florence wrote long, picturesque letters to her family describing her visit and her views on the country, its history and its people. These letters were edited and privately printed by her sister, Parthenope, in 1854 and were greatly admired by those who read them, but they have never before been published. Attractive, intelligent and extremely well read, Miss Nightingale was one of the earliest women to make such a journey, and she researched her subject well. Her letters are a fascinating account of life in a country whose greatest asset, its past, had only recently been discovered. They are also a valuable record of a way of life that has now vanished. And they are an extraordinary insight into the character of a woman who within five years was to become a legend. The brilliant landscapes and unimaginable colors of Egypt also drew artists from all over Europe, and Letters from Egypt is illustrated throughout with the glorious paintings and lithographs of David Roberts, Theodore Frere, Edward Lear and others. -- Dust jacket flap.