DESCRIPTION DE L'AFRIQUE

Avec des Cartes des États, des Provinces & des Villes, & des Figures en taille-douce, qui representent les habits & les principales Ceremonies des Habitans, les Plantes & les Animaux les moins connus

Traduite du flamand d'O. Dapper, D. M

First French Edition: (iv unnumbered leaves), 534, (xxii table de matieres) pages, additional engraved title page, large folding map, 42 double-page engraved maps and views (one folding), 55 engraved illustrations in the text, 18th century panelled calf rebacked, small ownership stamp in the margins of a few leaves, contents bright and crisp, a very good copy.

Mendelssohn (Sydney) South African Bibliography, volume 1, page 414, 'Description of Africa, containing the names, positions, and limits of all its parts, their rivers, towns and settlements, plants and animals, the customs, costumes, language, riches, religion, and government of its peoples. With maps of the states, provinces, and towns, and copper plate representations of the residents, and the less known plants and animals. Translated from the Flemish of Dr. O. Dapper.

'An important early work on Africa in general, which was translated into several Europealanguages. The original edition was published in Amsterdam in 1668, and Mr. Theal remarks that " it was carefully compiled from the best sources of information." There is an interesting view of Table Bay and Mountain, with a sketch of the fort, but the work is too early to give anything but a cursory description of South Africa. The illustrations include many views of African ports and towns, and several maps and plates are very curious. At the end of the volume is a gazetteer and index combined.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfert_Dapper) 'Olfert Dapper (January 1636 – 29 December 1689) was a Dutch physician and writer who wrote books about world history and geography although he never travelled outside the Netherlands. In 1663 wrote a book on the history of Amsterdam. His Description of Africa (1668) is a key text for African studies. His book "is one of the most authoritative 17th-century accounts on Africa published in Dutch. Translations appeared in English, French, and German. Dapper never travelled outside the Netherlands but used reports by Jesuit missionaries and Dutch explorers. Within a few years, he published about China, India, Persia, Georgia and Arabia. His books became well-known in his own time. The fine plates include views of Algiers, Benin, Cairo, Cape Town, Valletta, Marrakesh, St. Helena, Tangier, Tripoli and Tunis, as well as animals and plants.'