The History and Description of Africa: And of the Notable Things Therein Contained, 3-Volume Set

by Leo Africanus, John Pory (Translator), Robert Brown (Editor)

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Leo Africanus (c. 1494 c. 1554) was an Arab diplomat captured by Spanish corsairs in 1518 and taken to Rome. He was later released by Pope Leo X and enjoyed papal patronage until he left Rome in 1527. This three-volume work describes the region of north Africa known as the Maghreb and was considered the most authoritative account of the cultures, religions and politics of this region until the start of European exploration in the nineteenth century.

Genres: History, Africa

1288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1526

About the author

Joannes Leo Africanus, (c. 1494 – c. 1554?) (or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, Arabic:حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي) was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa) describing the geography of North Africa. (Wiki)

Reviews

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed impressions. Half of the book consists of a monotonous mentions of a smallest African settlements with a brief information about date palms and water sources around. The information undoubtedly was useful in the 17th century, but absolutely waste of time now.
The other half however contains amazing colourful descriptions of medieval African life. The city of Fez, the customs of Cairo women, a brief guide how to train a camel, and so on and so forth. I love this alive and capriccios pictures very much.

[Javid Jafarov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book involves not only geographic and cultural details, but also helps to shed misconceptions on medieval Africa and reveal this continent.

[Oussama · Rating 5 out of 5]

هاك

[Onur · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the place of "Leo Africanus on the North Africans"