Description exacte des isles de l'archipel

External appearance and illustrations

The book with the full title Description exacte des isles de l'archipel, et de quelques autres adjacentes: Dont Les Principales Sont Chypre, Rhodes, Candie, Samos, Chio, Negrepont, Lemnos, Paros, Delos, Patmos, avec un grand nombre d'autres is 24 cm (width) x 32 cm (height). It is in near fine condition.

It features texts, chalcography prints and accurate maps of the islands of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The title in English

The long title of the book translates to: “Accurate representation of the islands of the archipelago and their neighbouring islands: The most important of which are Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Samos, Chios, Evia, Lemnos, Paros, Delos, Patmos and many others.”

Mapping the archipelago

The maps included in the book Description exacte des isles de l'archipel are very valuable. With these maps, Dapper represented the islands of the archipelago, i.e. the islands of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, in the late 17th century.

It is not clear whether these maps are his work or the work of Dutch landscape artist Cornelis Gerritsz Decker. Decker’s name is discernible in some of the chalcography prints in the book.

The book became a point of reference and a useful guide for all subsequent travellers.

Olfert Dapper: A traveller of the historical sources

Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) was a Dutch doctor and writer. He was born in Amsterdam and studied in Utrecht. He wrote books on history and geography.

Even though he never travelled outside of the Netherlands, he was interested in exotic destinations, such as Greece, Africa, China, America, Persia, Syria, Palestine, etc. He drew his knowledge from ancient and contemporary historians. His books include prints with views from different areas, as well as descriptions and representations of animals and plants.

For the publication Description exacte des isles de l'archipel Olfert Dapper relied mainly on:

• Sources from Ancient Greek and Latin literature (Herodotus, Pausanias, Plutarch, Ptolemy, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Apollonius, Hesychius, Stephanus of Byzantium, John Chrysostom, etc.).
• Portolan charts and isolarii or island books (C. Buondelmonti, B. Bordone, T. Porcacchi, M. Boschini and V.M. Coronelli)
• Contemporary travel accounts (P. Belon, G. Sandys, Sieur Du Loir, J. Spon, G. Wheler, etc.)
• Reliable maps of the time (J. & C. Blaeu, etc.)
• Information from Dutch merchants.

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