Paris, the capital of mathematics in Cauchy's day, was also where newspapers became central to public debate. Who better to describe this than a traveller from abroad discovering the new customs of Parisian society? Such was Rifâ’at-Tahtâwî, a young Egyptian and a member of the delegation sent to France by the Pasha of Egypt. He lived in Paris for five years and drew on the experience to write L’or de Paris, une relation de voyage (1826-1831), recounting the five years he spent observing, listening, reading, translating and acquainting himself with Enlightenment thought.
L’or de Paris, or how to visit France in 1826–1831
according to Rifâ’at-Tahtâwî.
It is a traveller's guide, a treatise on Paris and, in today's parlance, a kind of "report on cultural surprises". Its Muslim author describes daily life, the constitution and democracy, the 1830 uprising, and scientific and cultural activity. He discovers forks, cafés, mirrors… His account of the emergence of newspapers is particularly striking:
