Auction 93 Part 1 - Manuscripts, Prints and Engravings, Objects and Facsimiles, from the Gross Family Collection, and Private Collections
Il Devotissimo viaggio di Gerusalemme [the Faithful Voyage to Jerusalem], by Jean Zuallart. Rome: F. Zanetti e Gia. Ruffinelli, 1587. Italian.
Account of the Flemish traveler Jean Zuallart's pilgrimage to Palestine, describing in detail Jerusalem and the holy places.
Zuallart's pilgrimage starte in Venice, and passed through Crete, Cyprus, Jaffa, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and took some 6 months to complete, during which he created numerous illustrations and sketches of the places and sites he visited. These were printed in the present book, and used in many later works which followed. The book was translated to German and French, and for many years was used as a guide book of sorts, for pilgrims in the Holy Land.
This first edition was printed in Italy, a year after the journey. It contains over 50 fine engravings, including maps, views and sites in Jerusalem and other towns, depictions of the walls of Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Mount of Olives, Rachel's Tomb, Jaffa and more, as well as a frontispiece and the author's portrait.
[10] leaves, 402 pages. 20.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Some minor marginal worming. Marginal tears and open tears to few pages, mostly restored. Inscriptions (old). Vellum binding, blemished and worn.
Exhibition:
• Voir Jérusalem. Pèlerins, conquérants, voyageurs, Mairie du 5eme arrondissement, edited by Béatrice Philippe Paris, 1997.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, NHB.370.
Petri Bellonii Cenomani Plurimarum singularium & memorabilium rerum in Graecia, Asia, Aegypto, India, Arabia [Petrus Belonius… Observations of Many Singularities and Memorable Items in Greece, Asia, Egypt, India, Arabia…]. Antwerp: C. Plantini, 1589. Latin.
Latin translation of the work known as "Observations", by the French naturalist Pierre Belon, first published in French in 1553. The work describes Belon's ethnographic, botanical and zoological studies, which he conducted during his travels through Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and Judea, between 1546 and 1549. Many in–text woodcuts, illustrate Belon's study observations and results. Printed and bound with another work by Belon, pertaining to the chicory plant.
Pierre Belon (1517–1564), French scientist and traveler, leading naturalist in his times, father of comparative anatomy. Belon was one of the first Europeans to study the flora and fauna of the Near East, and made great contributions to the development of the sciences of botany, ornithology (study of birds) and ichthyology (study of fish). Belon was one of the first researchers to incorporate illustrations in his scientific works.
[8], 495; [87] pages (slightly mispaginated). Approx. 17.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Minor tears to a few leaves at beginning of volume. Many inscriptions to leaves and inside binding (in Latin characters). Several detached leaves. Fine leather binding, worn and rubbed. Abrasions to binding edges. Minor tears to spine.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB. 372.
Totius Terrae Sanctae urbiumque et quicquid in eis memoria dignum actum gestumve fuit, secundum Bibliacos libros ac divum Hyeronimum. Paris: Gullielmum de Bossozel, 1540. Latin.
Martin de Brion's work on the cities and sites of the Holy Land. Only printed edition, with a depiction of Jerusalem on the title page (woodcut). The sites are organized alphabetically. The geographical position of each site is given, together with a significant biblical event which occurred in that place, and the verses where it is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.
The present work first appeared in French, in form of an illustrated and decorated manuscript. There are three extant copies of the decorated manuscript, one dedicated to Henry VIII King of England, and one to Francis I King of France (see: British Library, Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, Royal MS 20 A IV / French Library, Ms. Fr. 5638). This is a copy of the only printed edition of the work, published in Latin shortly after the manuscript was completed.
[58] leaves. Approx. 22 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor tears. Paper repairs to verso of title page and margins of one leaf (not over text). Bookplate. Parchment binding, slightly worn.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB. 153.
Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum et Syriacum, by Johannes Cotovicus. Antwerp: Hieronymous Verdussiun, 1619. Latin. Two parts in one volume. First edition.
Account of the journey by Johannes Cotovicus (doctor of laws at the Utrecht University) to Jerusalem and Syria (through Crete and Cyprus). Cotovicus, who visited Palestine in 1598, was the first to copy tombstone inscriptions and wall inscriptions from Jerusalem (some were later destroyed).
The book contains three engraved plates and more than 50 in-text engravings, including maps, plans and illustrations depicting Jerusalem (view of the city, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mount of Olives, and more), Jaffa, Rhodes, Cyprus, and other sites. Incomplete copy, lacking four folding text plates.
[17] leaves, 518 pages, [9] leaves + [3] engraved plates and [1] folding text plate (of five). Good condition. Some creases and stains. Minor worming. Several detached leaves with marginal tears. Tear to folding plate, repaired with tape. Parchment binding, slightly damaged.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB. 378.
Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum et Syriacum, by Johannes Cotovicus. Antwerp: Hieronymum Verdussium, 1619. Latin. First edition.
Description of a journey to Jerusalem and Syria (through Crete and Cyprus) taken by Jan van Cootwijk (Johannes Cotovicus), a jurist in the University of Utrecht.
Cotovicus, who visited Palestine in 1598, was the first to copy headstone inscriptions and wall inscriptions in Jerusalem (some of which since destroyed).
The book contains three engraved plates, a map of Palestine, and over 50 in-text illustrations, including maps, sketches and drawings of Jerusalem (a view of the city, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mount of Olives, and more), Jaffa, Rhodes, Cyprus, and other places.
[16] leaves, 518 pages, [9] leaves + [3] engraved plates, [1] map + p5[ text plates (folded). Approx. 23.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and creases. Worming to first leaves. Map partly detached. Some tears to folded text plates. Fine vellum binding, worn and stained. Bookplate.
Other known copies of the present book feature a different title page (lacking printer's device, and with minor variations in typography). These copies lack the map of Palestine which exists in the present lot, and are bound with 8 additional index pages.
See item 240.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.376.
Guide for pilgrims to the Holy Land with instructions and advice for the pilgrims; description of the Christian holy sites, table of distances between the various sites, and more. Accompanied by numerous in-text woodcuts, including woodcuts depicting Jerusalem, the Temple, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nazareth and more.
192 pages. 15 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Marginal tears and open tears to a few leaves, mostly repaired with tape (with minimal damage to text). New parchment binding with decorative endpapers, slightly worn.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.369.
Walks in Palestine, by Henry A. Harper. London: The Religious Tract Society, 1888. English.
The book is divided into 24 chapters which deal with impressions from different sites in Palestine, such as orange groves in Jaffa, Jaffa Gate, Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, Rachel's Tomb, and more. Each chapter is accompanied by a photo–gravure by the photographer Cecil V. Shadbolt.
Copy from a limited edition, numbered 48/100 and bound in a vellum binding of good quality, embossed in gold. Top edge gilt.
Henry Andrew Harper (1835–1900) was a British artist well known for his paintings of the Orient. He was a member of the Palestine Exploration Fund committee and wrote a number of books about journeys in Palestine.
128 pp + [24] photo–gravure plates, 32.5 cm. Good condition. Foxing (some on the plates). Some minor marginal tears. Stains and blemishes to cover. Handwritten dedication in inner binding board.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.20.
“Theatrum Terrae Sanctae et Biblicarum Historiarum” by Christian van Adrichem. Cologne: Birckmannica, 1628 (print details on colophon). Latin.
Influential work by the Catholic priest and theologian Christian van Adrichem (1533–1585).
The work is widely regarded as one of the most important geographical pieces of literature on the Holy Land in recent history. The book, which took close to thirty years to compile, was only published posthumously, after its author had died. It was a groundbreaking achievement, laying the groundwork for mapmaking related to the Holy Land for roughly the next two centuries. The book comprises a dozen engraved maps, including nine maps laying out the territorial boundaries of the Twelve Tribes of Israel; a map of the Paran Desert (indicating the various way stations where the Children of Israel camped in the course of their travels from Egypt to the Promised Land); and two larger (folded) maps of particular significance, namely a map of Jerusalem, showing locations of the various gates and the well–known sites, as well as the earliest indication of its kind of the Via Dolorosa’s Fourteen Stations of the Cross; and a full map of the Holy Land, several different variations of which were published shortly thereafter by some of the most influential cartographers, such as Thomas Fuller, Nicolaes Visscher, Jan Jansson, and others. In the present copy, the right half of the map of the Holy Land is missing.
[5] ff., 286 pp., [15] ff. + [1] title page engraving and [12] engraved plates, approx. 37.5 cm. Good condition. Half of map of Holy Land (one of the two plates that make up the map) missing. Stains and wear. Minor worming holes to some leaves. Several notations in ink. Several engraved plates with tears to edges and to length of fold lines (some reinforced with strips of paper glued onto back). Binding with leather spine and corners, somewhat worn.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.410.
Situs Terrae Promissionis. S.S. Bibliorum intelligentiam exacte aperiens per Chr. Adrichom, map of Palestine by Christian van Adrichem. Hand–colored engraving. Amsterdam: Henrici Hondii, [1633?].
Map of Palestine on both sides of the Jordan River, depicting the territories of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The shoreline runs from Sidon in the north to Alexandria in the south. The upper part of the map is illustrated by decorative floral and vegetal motifs, underneath which appears a cartouche, held by two angels, containing a verse from the Book of Deuteronomy (Latin): "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills…" (8:7). At the bottom of the map appears a bar scale, a compass, and illustrations of Jonah and the fish, Moses and Aaron.
See Laor, 23.
Engraved map: approx. 55.5X46 cm (printed on two attached sheets; French text on verso). Frame: 66.5X55 cm. Good condition. Minor stains, mainly to verso. Matted (with stickers on verso). Framed.
Provenance: Private collection.
Blumen–Buch deß heiligen Lands Palestinae, so in drey Bücher abgetheil, by Elektus Zwinger. Munich: Johann Wilhelm Schell, 1661. German. Only edition.
Book based on the author's journey to Palestine and its surroundings. The book comprises three parts: the first is about Palestine, specifically Jerusalem; the second is on pilgrimages and important pilgrimage sites; the third discusses sites outside of Palestine (Tripoli, Rhodes, Malta, Sicily, and more).
With 18 engraved plates (some folded), including a map of Palestine (double plate); a map of Jerusalem; illustrations of Jaffa, the Mount of Olives and other sites; various plans; and more. Engraved title page.
[13] leaves, 660 pages, [35] leaves + [18] plates and [1] engraved title page (mounted on blank leaf at beginning of book). 19.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor wear. Minor worming to first and final leaves. One plate detached. Old inscriptions and ownership inscriptions. Fine, original leather over wooden boards, with embossed decorations; leather and metal clasps. Minor stains and defects to binding; one clasp lacking metal closure.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.371.