Jobus Ludolfus Sac. Cæs. Majest. nec non Seren. Saxoniæ Duc. Consiliarus.
G.B. v. Sand. pinx. Elias Ch. Heiss sculp. Aug. Vind. 1691. [Frankfurt: Johann David Zunner, 1691?] Rare mezzotint, with large margins. 270 x 175mm (10½ x 7"). Oval portrait of Hiob Ludolph (1624-1704), probably the frontispiece to Ludoph's own 'Historiam Aethiopicam Antehac Editam Commentarius', his study of Ethiopia. Ludolf , learned the Ethiopian language from Gregorius, a monk from the Ethiopian province of Amhara. He used this knowledge to research the country, even visiting England to promote a trade scheme, unsuccessfully. The modern scholar Edward Ullendorff called Ludolf 'the most illustrious name in Ethiopic scholarship'. The artist and engraver of this portrait also collaborated on a portrait of Gregorius.
[Ref: 30232] £350.00