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.