Olfert Dapper

The recorded working language is Dutch. Places of work recorded in the authority are Amsterdam and Africa. Works named in the authority record are Description of Africa. Work by Olfert Dapper is recorded in the collections of National Museum of World Cultures and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Name — Olfert Dapper • Born — January 1636 • Birthplace — Amsterdam, Dutch Republic • Died — 29 December 1689 • Place of death — Amsterdam, Dutch Republic • Occupation — Geographer, writer • Subject — History, geography

• Illustration — Illustration of the city and castle of Corfu, from Dapper's book Description of Morea (1688) • Illustration — Illustration of the ruler of Loango, from Dapper's Description of Africa (1668) Olfert Dapper was born in January 1636 in the Jordaan in Amsterdam. On 6 January 1636, he was baptized in the Lutheran church in Amsterdam. In 1663 wrote a book on the history of Amsterdam. His Description of Africa (1668) is a key text for African studies. His book "is one of the most authoritative 17th-century accounts on Africa published in Dutch. Translations appeared in English, French, and German. 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. His books became well-known in his own time. 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. Dapper was buried on 29 December 1689 in Amsterdam.