Description of Africa (Dapper book)

Description of Africa (in the original archaic Dutch Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten, or "Accurate Descriptions of the African Regions")[a] is a Dutch ethnographic book published in 1668 describing Africa.

The work consists of detailed description of the parts of Africa known to Europeans in the mid-seventeenth century and was written by the geographer Olfert Dapper.

[1] Dapper never visited Africa himself, but relied very heavily on records of the Dutch West India Company, especially a collection made by Samuel Bloomaerts, one of its officials.

The German and English versions are the most faithful, both in translation and inclusion of the original material, the French edition is generally regarded as quite deficient.

The illustrations of Central Africa were probably based on work by Abraham Willaerts who accompanied the Dutch expedition against Portuguese Angola in 1641.