L'Africa; colle tracce degli antichi e recenti viaggi si marittimi che terrestri degli Europei in essa

1830. unbound. very good. Map. Engraving. 13 1/4" x 17 1/4".<br/><br/> The map includes notes about early European exploration of Africa, with mention of the 15th-century Portuguese voyages to the Canary and Cape Verde Islands and along the west coast of the continent. There are also comments about the voyages of Vasco de Gama in 1497 and 1498 around the Cape of Good Hope and Marco Polo's voyage to Madagascar. Tasso has weaved a wealth of descriptive text in Italian into his elegant renderings of Africa, using words to draw out the unique coastlines and island formations of the region. Nearby regions are labeled with the date of their discovery and, when possible, the name of their discoverer. "The Sahara is as big as half of Europe, it looks like a sea in the wind. Camels go across and caravans move. The Mari are the pirates of the sand. Oasis gives shelter. Entire caravans lay buried under the sand storms. (upper left west Africa). Elsewhere, soaring text describes the paths of famous voyages. The map is from the 1835 edition of Le Sage's "Atlante Storico, Geografico, Genealogico, Cronologico, e Letterario." It is in excellent condition with beautiful hand coloring and crisp lettering. Wide margins as issued. Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, comte de Las Cases (1766--1842) was a French atlas-maker (aka Le-Sage) and author.<br/><br/>