BRANDIS, WOODCUT MAP OF THE HOLY LAND, [1475], EXTRACTED FROM RUDIMENTUM NOVITIORUM

Hand-coloured woodcut map of the Holy Land on 2 joined leaves (408 x 580mm.), printed from two woodblocks, letterpress text on verso of one leaf, early manuscript folio number (CLXIII) at head of right hand page, repaired and restored, neat manuscript facsimile at corners

ISTC ir00345000; Campbell 214

THE EARLIEST MODERN PRINTED MAP OF PALESTINE, "it is the first to break away from the tenets of the medieval schoolmen. It presents the Holy Land in the form of a bird's-eye view, extending from Damascus and Sidon in the north to the Red Sea" (Campbell, The Earliest Printed Maps, p.146). This map is one of two that were included in the Rudimentum Novitiorum, an encyclopedic history of the world, printed for the first time by Brandis in Lübeck and regularly reprinted in richly illustrated editions. The map is surrounded by wind heads with Jerusalem depicted in the centre of the map, with green and blue shading for the hills, brown for the buildings, yellow for the deserts, and red underlining for the place names. The map also contains a few vignettes of biblical scenes, such as Moses and the tablets on Mount Sinai and the army drowning in the Red Sea.