Saint Helena, map by Dapper, 1686, St. Helena

Large copper engraved view of the island of Saint Helena in the Southern Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America.

It shows the entirety of the island, illustrating it´s topography and rivers. Eight locations are numerically identified, with an index in Dutch in the lower left corner and a French index in the upper right. Six of the eight identified locations correspond to valleys most likely associated with the rivers.

Published in the 1686 French edition of Olfert Dapper´s "Naukeurige Beschrijvingen der Afrikaensche gewesten en Naukeurige beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Eylanden", popularly known as ´Description of Africa´.

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

Excellent condition. Very nice hand coloring. Index in Dutch (lower right corner) and French (upper right corner)

Image 24,5x31,5cm, page 35x41cm