On January 26, 1786, Parkie, a young elephant from Asia, boards on the Utrecht and leaves her native island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). She travels with Hans, an elephant calf of her age. Heading towards the Netherlands followed by Paris! A legendary animal, she is the first of her species to be presented at the menagerie of the Jardin des plantes in Paris. 

In this illustrated album, French author Stéphane Audeguy reveals, in a clear and poetic writing, the romantic story of Parkie: going through the twists and turns of the several revolutions shaking the Europe of Enlightenment, the elephant arrives at the French royal court and becomes the muse of scientists, naturalists and painters of the sovereign. Audeguy has developed his tale from a rich corpus of historical images –  watercolours, engravings, paintings and drawings – that punctuates the text. This publication speaks to children as well as grownups who have retained their sense of childlike wonder.