Africae Accurata Tabula

Method Copper engraved
Artist van Meurs, Jacob
Published ex officina Jacobium Meursium [Amsterdam, 1670]
Dimensions 435 x 535 mm
Notes A fine dark impression of van Meurs' seventeenth century map of the continent of Africa, from the 1670 German edition of Dapper's Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten, commonly known as the Description of Africa. The map is incredibly detailed, with numerous place names, nations, and peoples listed, though it also retains many of the erroneous but conventional cartographic details for the centre of the continent, including the twin lakes Zaflan and Zaire. Various animals are depicted across the landmass, and in the oceans, numerous European sailing ships are depicted, along with a school of flying fish and a twin spouted whale at the Equator. As well as southern Europe and the Arabian peninsula, the African islands are also included. Above Madagascar, the Seychelles are mapped, though the distances between them are greatly reduced. On the Atlantic side of the continent, Tristan da Cunha is listed but not shown, and St Helena appears twice. Ascension Island is mapped and labelled, and the Cape Verde and Fortunate Isles are prominently displayed. The map is further embellished by a pair of decorative baroque cartouches, the title cartouche supported by a pair of Africans, and the dedication cartouche, here uninscribed, flanked by sea nymphs and tritons.

Olfert Dapper's 'Description of Africa' was an ethnographic book which offered a detailed description of the parts of Africa known to Europeans in the mid-seventeenth century. Despite the work being regarded as one of the most important and detailed seventeenth-century publications on Africa, Dapper himself never actually visited the continent. Instead, he relied on the reports of Jesuit missionaries and Dutch explorers. The 'Description of Africa' was first published in 1668 by Jacob van Meurs in Amsterdam, with a second Dutch edition appearing in 1676. In 1670, a German translation of the publication was issued, and in the same year, an English translation, which is generally attributed to John Ogilby. A French edition was published in 1676, although it was not as true to the original as the other translations.

Jacob van Meurs (1619-1680) was a Dutch publisher, bookseller, printmaker, and engraver, best known for his work engraving plates for the travel writers and geographers Johan Nieuhof, Olfert Dapper, and Arnoldus Montanus, whose books he published in numerous editions from his printworks in Amsterdam.

Olfert Dapper (1636 - 1689) was a Dutch physician and writer. Despite never travelling outside of the Netherlands, Dapper was a writer of world history and geography.

Condition: Horizontal and vertical folds, as issued. Minor time toning and small tears to folds. Trimmed close to plate mark as issued, without loss to map.
Framing unmounted
Price £650.00
Stock ID 45501

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