Coffee bringing together populations and opportunity to spread cultures and traditions, insomuch that it deserves a praise. Invitation to read a timeless manuscript from the Eighteenth century with reference to our beloved drink.
“Praise of coffee”
by Antoine Galland
A letter Antoine Galland, French orientalist of the Eighteenth century, sends to a friend to express a real praise of coffee. A short essay collecting a series of concepts on the use of the most famous bean of the world, and in general on the relationship populations have with drugs. The author describes with great linguistic ability the origin of coffee in the Oriental world through a rich collection of anecdotes referring to its discovery and diffusion, but also how it was received by Islamic traditions.
The author
Antoine Galland, traveller and man of learning, among the first enthusiasts of oriental languages, author of travel accounts (many of them addressed to Colbert), which are at the origin of modern Orientalism. He is most famous for having translated the well-known collection of oriental short stories “The Thousand and One Nights”, which he then gave to marchioness d’O, grand dame of the duchess of Bourgogne. The culture of the oriental world has been divulged in France and the West thanks to him.
