Cartography, Exploration & Voyages / Africa

VARTHEMA, Ludivico di. The Navigation and v[o]yages of Lewes Vertomannus, Gentelman of the citie of Rome, to the regions of Arabia, Egypte, Persia, Syria, Ethiopia, and East India, both within and without the ryver of Ganges, etc. In the yeere of our Lorde 1503. Conteynyng many notable and straunge thinges, both hystoricall and naturall. Translated out of Latine into Engylshe, by Richarde Eden.
London, Richard Jugge, 1577. 4to. With historiated woodcut initials. Splendid modern navy blue morocco, (faded) gold-tooled spine, gold-tooled double fillet frame on both boards. [10], 466, [6] ll. Full description

VERMEULEN, Gerrit Gedenkwaardige voyagie van Gerret Vermeulen naar Oost-Indien, in't jaar 1668, aangevangen, en in't jaar 1674. voltrokken...
Amsterdam, Jan Claesz ten Hoorn, 1676. 4to. With an engraved allegorical frontispiece, 6 almost half-page engravings in the text, and a decorated woodcut initial. Modern blind-tooled sprinkled half calf. [4], 91, [1 blank] pp. Full description

VIANNA, Manoel José. [Manuscript portolan chart of the Atlantic Ocean, including Western Europe, South America, and West Africa].
Porto, 1786. Chart ca. 86 x 68 cm; frame ca. 101 x 83.5 cm. Detailed manuscript portolan chart in ink and paint and/or ink wash in green, yellow, red, and brown on vellum. The chart is drawn within a red washed border and shows the detailed coastlines of the east coast of South America, the west coast of Africa, and the west coast of northwest Europe up to the Netherlands and including Great Britain and Ireland. The coasts are drawn in sections alternatingly in yellow, green, and red ink. Principal regions are added in large decorative script, coastal towns, cities, and capes are added in a small cursive hand. Also depicted are a detailed split graticule indicating longitude and latitude, intricate rhumb lines, islands, dangerous rocky outcrops (marked vegia (= vigia, meaning lookouts)), and inshore shoals. Further decorative elements in the chart are the flags in Brazil (Portuguese coat-of-arms), Algeria (Ottoman Empire?), and West Africa (Dutch flag, upside down); the side view of Elmina Castle in west Africa, two half wind roses, elaborate rococo floral (fleur-de-lis) ornaments at the head of the chart and in South America. The banderole at the bottom of the chart contains the following text: "Manoel Joze Vianna a Fes no Porto" and below the year of production "1786". Framed in a gold-coloured frame and mounted on a cream cloth covered backboard. Full description

VIAUD, Pierre (and Jean Garpard DUBOIS-FONTANELLE). Naufrage et aventures de M. Pierre Viaud; natif de Rochefort, capitaine de navire.
Bordeaux, the Labottiere brothers; Paris, Lejay, 1780.
With: (2) [POIVRE, Pierre]. Voyage d'un philosophe, ou observations sur les moers & les arts des peuples de l'Afrique, de l'Asie et de l'Amerique.
Yverdon, 1768. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary gold-tooled tree calf, richly gold-tooled spine; very subtly rebacked, preserving original backstrip. XXIV, 307, [4], [1 blank]; 140, [2] pp. Full description

[MAP - AFRICA]. VISSCHER, Nicolaas. Africae accurata tabula.
[Amsterdam], Nicolas Visscher, [ca. 1690?]. Engraved double-page map (image size: 43.5 x 54 cm; leaf size: 51 x 60 cm), coloured by a contemporary hand. With title in a decorated cartouche on the top right flanked by two Africans and two putti and dedication to Gerardus Schaap in a decorated cartouche on the bottom left, with Schaap's coat of arms on top and flanked by mythical figures. Further illustrated with small ships and African animals (including lions, monkeys, rhinoceros and ostriches). In passepartout (56 x 66 cm). Full description

ZELL, Anselm and Christoph ZELL. Europae descriptio lucidissima D. Caroli V Romanorum Imperatori dedicata. Prognosticon Antonii Torquati ... ab anno M.CCCC.LXXX usque ad annum M.D. XXXVIII Matthiae Ungariae regi dicatum. De fide et moribus Aethiopum, libellus Christianis lectu planè dignus.
Antwerp, (Colophon: Joannes Grapheus) for Joannes Steelsius, Aug. 1535. Small 8vo (ca. 9.1 x 14.1 cm). With 3 woodcut decorated initials, and Steelsius printer's device on the verso of the last flyleaf. Modern gold-tooled vellum, sewn on three supports laced through the joints, with a single fillet border on both boards. [24] ll. Full description