(AFRICA.) AFRICANI, JONANNES LEONIS. Africa, Descriptio IX Lib. Absoluta. 2 volumes, 16mo. [ii] blanks, [i], 3-384 pp; [ii], 387-800, xiv. Contemporary full vellum; volume II with some wear, and a very early vellum repair. Leiden: Elzevier, 1632
the first elzevier edition of this work, the first book about africa written by an african. Johannes Leo Africanus (circa 1494-1554) was the Christian name of al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, a Berber. Al Fasi was born at the end of the Caliphate in Granada, Spain, but received his education in Morocco where he grew up and studied diplomacy. Later, as the diplomat of the Sultan of Fez he traveled extensively. On one such journey he was captured by Christian corsairs and brought to Rome. There he was released on the initiative of Pope Leo X and converted to Christianity. The present work was finished in 1526 and printed for the first time in 1550 under the title "Della descrittione dell'Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono."
