The Most Complete Description of the Archipelago.

Dapper, Olfert. Description of the Islands of the Archipelago. " Naukeurige Beschryving der Eilandedn in de Archipel der Middelantsche Zee, en ontrient dezelve, gelegen: Waer onder de voornaemse Cyprus, Rhodus, Kandien, Samos,Scio, Negreponte. Lemnos, Paros, delos, Patmos en andere, in groten getale..." Amsterdam Wolfgangh, Waesbergen, Boom. Someren en Goethals 1688
Folio, pp [8] 24 + (17-92) + 84 + (33-200) + 152 + (145-150) + (143-200) + (153-320) + 40 +[4] [as published].
Despite the extremely erratic pagination and signatures, all catchwords follow and the text is complete with all the illustrations present. as published.

Engraved allegorical title; title in red and black. Dedication to Nikolas Witsen.
Large folded map of the Archipelago Zee karte van de Archipel en Arciipelsche Eylanden and 17 douple page maps and views including maps of Arcihpelago Meridionalis seu Cycladum; Insularum Archipelagi Septrionalis seu Maris Ægæ after Jacob Meurs; map of Cyprus Insula; view of Salinas/ Larnica; map of Crete; town plan of Candia/ iraklion; map of Euboea after Boschini; birdseye view of Rethymnon and a view of Chios town. 14 single page plates with views, maps and coins of the islands. 47 vignette illustrations in text [a few back to back] showing maps, views, costumes, flora, fauna and coins including views of Farmagusta and Thessalonika.

In the preface of the Description of the islands of the ArchipelagoDapper acknowledges the work of Buondelmonti, Bordone, Porcacchi, Boschini and Coronelli), contemporary travel accounts of Belon, G. Sandys, Sieur Du Loir, Spon, & Wheler and the testimonies by Dutch merchants as his sources, whilst also referring to the ancient Greek and Latin sources: Herodotus, Pausanias, Plutarch, Ptolemaeus, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Apollonius, Hesychius, Pomponius Mela, Solinus, Stephanus Byzantius, John Chrysostom. He states that he has examined all these works to create the definitive description of the Islands and their important place in Europe, "that directs its gaze most closely towards the Orient" He praises the rich history under the Greeks Romans, Bizants and Venetiens , but laments the present desolate and deserted state of under the "heavy yoke of the Empire of the Turks" , a condition he believes and hopes will be ameliorated by the return of Christian rule. ("Mapping the Ottomans: Sovereignty, Territory, and Identity in the Early Modern Mediterranean".Palmira Brummett.Cambridge University Press)
"Dapper's work is as much a lament for the present state of Greece's past glories as it is an architectural and archaeological guide.The plate of Delos on display, with its pathetic heaps of fallen masonry, overgrown with weeds and now the home of snakes and lizards, perfectly complements the tone of the text."(Kings College London- Katie Sambrook). Contemporary blind stamped vellum over boards; red morocco label; joints cracking, starting to split at top.
Bookplate removed from front end paper. Lacks last free end paper.
Internally lightly ned with some occasional spotting throughout; Ff and Ff2 with rust spot /hole just touching a letter of text: I & I2 and z3 with lower corner torn, far from text.
Plates generally clean; good,dark impressions.
Some of the larger double page plates with narrow margins; map of Cyprus with extra fold at margins to fit binding; view of Chios printed slightly crooked therefore lower margin trimmed, Delos, lower margin trimmed; Sestos and columns of Pompey trimmed to plate mark at bottom. all plates of coins trimmed to lower margin but complete.

Olfert Dapper (1639-1689)
was a Dutch physician and scholar devoted to historical and geographical studies.
He produced several finely illustrated volumes describing travels in Africa, Asia, Asia Minor, the Middle East, drawing upon the most reliable eye-witness accounts as well as his own library of travel books. His works were authoritative and very popular, and especially noteworthy for their excellent illustrations and maps.

Dapper produced two works concerned with Greece both published in 1688, possibly responding to the Venetian successes against the Ottomans between 1685-8; the present work the description of the Archipelago:
"Naukeurige beschryving der Eilanden, in de Archipel der Middelantsche Zee, en omtrent dezelve, gelegen: waer onder de voornaemste Cyprus, Rhodus, Kandien, Samos, Scio, Negroponte" and Description of the Morea " Naukeurige Beschryving van Morea, Eertijts Pelopnnesus; en de Eilanden,"









Atabey 323. Blackmer 453. Cobham-Jeffery 14. Contominas 190. Weber II 745. 315 by 214mm (12½ by 8½ inches).   ref: 2870  €7500