"Aethiopia Inferior, vel Exterior", Blaeu, Willem

The standard map of South Africa throughout the 17th century covering the region from Congo-Zanzibar to the Cape. Blaeu based the map on Portuguese exploration and most detail is confined to the coastlines. There are two large lakes in the interior. The lake out of which the Zambere (Zambesi River) flows is probably based on reports of Lake Ngami, which was not conclusively discovered until the mid 19th century. The interior is filled with indigenous animals and ships sail the sea. The large title cartouche is drawn on an ox hide held up by natives, with monkeys and turtles at their feet. French text on verso.

References: Norwich #154.

Condition: A

Overall fine, but with a tiny spot in title cartouche and some marginal soil.