BREYDENBACH, Peregrinatio in terram sanctam. [Speier], Peter Drach, 29 July, 1490.
Peregrinatio in terram sanctam.
Item Number: 21443 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Books > Incunabula
Very rare and early edition of the first illustrated travel book, the earliest modern account of the Holy Land and one of the most remarkable popular picture books of its day. Breydenbach, Dean of Mainz and friends set out for the Holy Land in 1482 and after a hazardous journey via Venice, Corfu, Crete and Rhodes eventually reached their goal. One of the company was the artist Berwick, a painter of considerable talent, whose works, based on first hand observation, forms the basis for some of the illustrations in the present work, though others are culled from earlier printed texts. Breydenbach had a remarkable gift for seeing and describing the principal characteristics of the places he visited, and which he viewed with curiosity and intelligence, faithfully recounting what he saw. No detail was too minor for his interest and observation - from the many strange animals he encountered to the unknown alphabets of the various inhabitants.
The glory of the book are the two great folding plates of Venice and Jerusalem (often mutilated or missing).
Goff B&1190 ; Hain 3957 ; GKW 5076; Polain, 895; Davies (Breydenbach), p.5, II.