Author: PIGAFETTA, Filippo and Duarte LOPEZ.
Title: Relatione del reame di Congo et delle circonvicine contrade tratta dalli scritti & ragionamenti di Odoardo Lopez. Rome, Bartolomeo Grassi, [1591]. 4to. With an integral engraved architectural title-page (with the coat of arms of the dedicatee Antonio Migliore, Bishop of San Marco), large folding engraved general map of Africa (64×44 cm), large folding engraved map of the Congo (43.5×51.5 cm) and 8 numbered folding engraved plates of plants, animals and inhabitants of the country, by Natalis Bonifazio. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.
Description: [8], 82, [1], [1 blank] pp.First edition of one of the main sources for authentic information on central Africa. Filippo Pigafetta, a relative of Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's companion on his first circumnavigation of the world, based his work on the information he collected from the Portuguese traveller Duarte Lopez, who sailed to the Congo in 1578 and stayed in Loanda until 1587. Pigafetta's important and beautifully illustrated account deals with the geography of the country, its animals, the inhabitants and their customs, the Portuguese trade, missionary activities, etc. Of special interest are his history and descriptions of Congolese tribes and their kings. It remained the main source for information on the Congo and central Africa up to the middle of the 19th century. The fine and decorative map of Africa includes the Red Sea and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.With the maps repaired and mounted on cloth, and a tear repaired in 1 folding plate, slightly foxed, margins of the plates frayed (without affecting the images, but in one case reaching the border). Some small stains on the binding and the spine a bit worn. Good copy, complete with all the maps and plates.l Adams L-1468 (lacking 1 map); Brunet IV, col. 651 (without the plates); Cox I, pp. 354-355; Gay, Bibl. de l'Afrique et l'Arabe 3077 (without the maps); for the maps: Betz, The mapping of Africa 34-36, 186; Norwich, Africa 16.

Keywords: [4C531C9794C4] AFRICA|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [63B668DE60DC] Cartography & Exploration|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [1B215D78AF1D] Central & West Africa|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [007F6C4509CD] East & Southern Africa|[80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION|[