De Stadt Tripolis

Title

De Stadt Tripolis

Description

Map shows the port of Tripolis, capital of Libya with ships engaged in battle to the foreground. Title on decorative banner to sky. engraved double page view of Tripolis, Libya from Olfert Dapper's. Description de l'Afrique, the first edition in French; black and white, verso blank.

ca. 1650

Artist

Dapper (1636-1689)

Olfert Dapper was a Dutch physician and writer. He wrote books about world history and geography, although he never travelled outside the Netherlands. 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 German. Translations appeared in English, French, and German. Dapper never traveled to Africa but used reports by Jesuit missionaries and other (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, La Valetta, Marrakech, St. Helena, Tangier, Tripoli, Tunis, as well as, animals and plants.

Historical Description

Tripoli is the capital city and the largest city of Libya. The city was founded in the 7th century BC, by the Phoenicians. It is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West to distinguish it from its Phoenician sister city Tripoli, Lebanon meaning Levantine Tripoli. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Effective Ottoman rule during this period (1551–1711) was often hampered by the local Janissary corps. Intended to function as enforcers of local administration, the captain of the Janissaries and his cronies were often the de facto rulers. In 1711, Ahmed Karamanli, a Janissary officer of Turkish origin, killed the Ottoman governor, the Pasha and established himself as ruler of the Tripolitania region. By 1714, he had asserted a sort of semi-independence from the Ottoman Sultan, heralding in the Karamanli dynasty. The Pashas of Tripoli were expected to pay a regular tributary tax to the Sultan, but were in all other aspects rulers of an independent kingdom. This order of things continued under the rule of his descendants, accompanied by the brazen piracy and blackmailing until 1835, when the Ottoman Empire took advantage of an internal struggle and re-established its authority.