Olfert Dapper (January 1636 – 29 December 1689) was a Dutch physician and writer who wrote books about world history and geography although he never travelled outside the Netherlands.

[1] Dapper never travelled outside the Netherlands but used reports by Jesuit missionaries and Dutch explorers.

Within a few years, he published about China, India, Persia, Georgia and Arabia.

The fine plates include views of Algiers, Benin, Cairo, Cape Town, Valletta, Marrakesh, St. Helena, Tangier, Tripoli and Tunis, as well as animals and plants.

[1] Dapper's book Description of Africa is an important text for Africanists.