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LEO, JOHANNES, Africanus. Africae descriptio IX. Lib. absoluta. 800, [16] pages, including engraved title. 24mo, contemporary vellum, spine wormed, front hinge split, front free endpaper lacking; old stamp on title, ink stain in blank upper outer corners. Leiden, 1632
first elzevier edition of a description of the geography, peoples, customs, and religion of North and West Africa, the main first-hand source for these subjects in Europe during the Renaissance and early modern period. The author (circa 1494-1552) was an Andalusian Moor raised in Morocco who travelled extensively in the region. He composed the work in Italian during a prolonged stay in Italy after having been captured by pirates in 1518 and presented as a slave to Pope Leo X, who freed and baptized him as a convert. It was first published in Giovanni Battista Ramusio's 1550 collection Delle Navigationi et Viaggi, and in Latin and French versions in 1556. Penrose, pages 279-80; Willems 371.
