Ioannis Leonis Africani - Africae Descriptio Lib. IX - 1632

Leather binding with some light signs of wear, some negligible signs of humidity on the first pages, otherwise nothing to report.
[2] 384 [2]
Measurements 11x6 cm
This volume contains the Latin translation of the work by Giovanni Leone de' Medici (called the African), originally printed in Italian. Born in Granada to a Berber family, Leone moved to Fez, in Morocco, where he attended the university. During one of his numerous journeys, he was captured by Christian corsairs and taken to the prison of Castel Sant’Angelo, but he stayed there only a short time, because Pope Leo X, impressed by the Berber’s erudition, decided to baptize him and make him his collaborator. At the Pope’s request, our author composed the Cosmographia of Africa, first published in Venice in 1550, quickly becoming very famous, so much so that it was reprinted in several languages.
Delightful Elzevirian edition of this important description of the geography, peoples, customs and religions of Northern Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The work served for many centuries as the main reference upon which geographers and European explorers interested in Africa based themselves.