Peregrinatio in terram sanctam

Author Bernhard von Breydenback

Printer Erhard Reuwich

Place of OriginGermany, Mainz

Date1486

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1924.59

Not on View

DescriptionOriginal English binding Editio princeps.

Label TextAside from being the first printed book of travel it is also the first book whose illustrator is known by name. The artist, Erhard Reuwich accompanied Breydenbach on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. "These woodcuts" wrote William Morris, "Are remarkable, not only as the best executed illustrations in any medieval book, but also as being the first woodcuts in which shading is used in masses. It was the first attempt to represent places and persons in a life-like way and drawn from life." The book is open to show drawing of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. TRAVELS IN THE HOLY LAND counts among the earliest, best-selling travel books. Explorers from many countries were venturing into new worlds beyond the seas, and these intrepid travellers wanted to record their journeys. In 1484, Bernhard von Breydenbach, the Dean of of the Nainz Cathedral, set out for the Holy Land. He was accompanied by Reuwich who was specifically commissioned to make pictures of the places they visited: Venice, Corfu, Candia, Rhodes, as well as various sites in Palestine. On their return to Germany, while von Breydenbach wrote the account of their perilous expedition, Reuwich worked on translating his eye-witness sketches into woodcuts. The book includes folding panoramic views of ports and cities - the first time this pictorial method was ever used. Reuwich printed the text using Peter Schoffer's type and probably his press. This is the first printed book whose illustrator is known by name.