New Book-"Journey to Ararat"

In February 1828, the Russian Empire annexed the historical Armenian province of Erivan (Yerevan) from Persia. The province included Mount Ararat, a symbol of Armenian national and spiritual identity, said to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark. The mountain had never before been scaled in recorded history. Explorer Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) decided to take on the challenge of climbing Ararat. In 1829, he traveled to the Caucasus with an expeditionary team. Accompanied by Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian, he eventually reached the summit of the mountain. His memoir of the expedition, Journey to Ararat, was later published in German in 1834 and translated into English by William Desborough Cooley and printed in the United States in 1846.

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Translated by William Desborough Cooley- With a new critical introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian

London: Gomidas Institute, 2016, xxx + 312 pages, maps and woodcuts,

ISBN 978-1-909382-24-4, paperback

In February 1828, the Russian Empire annexed the historical Armenian

province of Erivan (Yerevan) from Persia. The province included Mount

Ararat, a symbol of Armenian national and spiritual identity, said to be the

resting place of Noah’s Ark. The mountain had never before been scaled in

recorded history. Explorer Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat (now

Tartu, Estonia) decided to take on the challenge of climbing Ararat. In

1829, he traveled to the Caucasus with an expeditionary team. Accompanied by

Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian, he eventually reached the summit of the

mountain. His memoir of the expedition, Journey to Ararat, was later

published in German in 1834 and translated into English by William

Desborough Cooley and printed in the United States in 1846.

This new edition of the Cooley translation includes a critical introduction

by Pietro A. Shakarian, new maps, and historical documents from Estonia and

Armenia related to Parrot’s expedition. It also includes illustrations from

the original English translation of Parrot's book, reproduced with the

assistance of the Cleveland Public Library’s John G. White Special

Collection of Folklore, Orientalia and Chess and Digital Public Library. All

of these new and restored elements provide a fresh look and understanding of

Parrot’s 1829 expedition to the Holy Mountain. The text itself is an

engaging and often informative travel memoir of 19th century Russian Armenia

and Transcaucasia.