Olfert Dapper (1636-1689), a man of letters and an excellent Classical scholar, was born in Amsterdam and studied in Utrecht. Although Dapper never travelled, he dedicated himself to geographical studies, documenting his wealth of knowledge by citing the numerous sources in his works. This publication "Description exacte des isles de l’archipe..." is based mainly on ancient Greek and Latin sources: Herodotus, Pausanias, Plutarch, Ptolemaeus, Strabo etc. and was published in french (1703 and 1730) and the passages dealing with Crete were also translated into Greek (in 1836 and 1999). This particular book was a reference work and a useful guide for all subsequent travellers.