Description de l'Afrique.

£25,000 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

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.

• Year: 1556

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