(HOLY LAND.) [Medieval woodcut map of a Jerusalem-centric Israel and Palestine.] 2 sheets joined, 13x17½ inches overall, ample margins, French text and historiations on verso; left and right with irregular untrimmed deckle edges mildly affecting printed neatline, overall fine. Paris, 1543
Fascinating map oriented with west (Mediterranean) at the bottom and filled with decorative topographical features and pictorial references to Biblical events including Christ baptized by John in the Dead Sea, the Crucifixion on Calvary, and Pharaoh drowning in the Red Sea as the Israelites pass safely to Mount Sinai where Moses is shown receiving the Sacred Tablets from God in the burning bush.
The present sixteenth-century variation, extracted from La Mer des Hystoires, is based on an interpretation of Dominican monk and pilgrim traveler Burchard of Mount Sion's thirteenth-century geography printed by Lubeck publisher Lucas Brandis de Schass in 1475. That incunable edition is not only regarded as the first printed map of this region, but of virtually anyplace. Laor 221.
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