Description de l'Afrique.

LEO Johannes (1556.)

£25000.00 

Available to view at our Curzon Street shop.

The best early text on Africa

First French edition. 2 vols. Double page map, with numerous woodcuts. Folio. Modern full morocco, gilt, worm hole not affecting text. [xl], 495, [22]index; [xvi], 70, 160, [16], 307pp Lyon,

Rare. An important, early work of African exploration, with the inverted map of Africa. The dramatic woodcuts throughout the text make this a particularly appealing work. Jean Temporal's French translation is regarded as a fine, elegant rendering of Ramusio's text.

Leo also crossed the Atlas mountains and travelled throughout the Middle East. He was captured by pirates on Zerbi, and eventually brought before Pope Leo X, who examined his manuscript and took him into his service. Originally published in 1550 by Ramusio in Italian, this text subsequently became the basis of all future translations. The original manuscript (finished in 1526) was rediscovered in 1931 and comparison's with Ramusio's revealed many differences between the two.

Stock Code: 197165

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