Nigeria, Benin City, Dapper/Van Meurs, 1686, De Stadt Benin / Le Benin

17th century copper engraved antique bird's-eye view of the Nigerian city of Benin in southern Nigeria. According to the key, which is printed in both French and Dutch, A denotes the queen's residence. B represents the wall surrounding the royal grounds, and C marks the entrance. The structures marked D are diverse palace buildings. The procession denoted by the letter F (should be E) suggests the "solemn depature of the king." The figure marked E (should be F) represents "his royalty on a horse." G denotes musicians playing for the king; H corresponds with "fools and dwarfs;" and the figures marked I tend to the king's tigers.

Benin City, originally known as Edo, was once the capital of a pre-colonial African empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. The Benin empire was one of the oldest and most highly developed states in west Africa, dating back to the 11th century.

The engraving is published in the first French edition of Olfert Dapper´s "Naukeurige Beschrijvingen der Afrikaensche gewesten" and "Naukeurige beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Eylanden", Amsterdam, 1686

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.

Very good condition.

Image 26x34cm, page 35x42cm