Folio (313 x 210 mm). Large initial “R” of 14 lines wood engraved with, in the center, the arms of Berthold von Henneberg-Römhild (1442-1504), Archbishop of Mainz and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. Complete, a-n8 [“o” quire never exists] [map of Jerusalem in 6 leaves] p10: thus 120 leaves (in keeping with Fairfax Murray and the Gesamt Katalog). Contemporary German binding, blindtooled calf, boards decorated with triple broad frames forming compartments, spine in white blindtooled pigskin (probably from the early 17th century), lettering piece from the 17th or 18th century, presumably contemporary with the rebacking, original copper clasps. Minimal break in the margin of leaf h1, restorations to the folds of some plates. Scuffed binding.

Breydenbach’s Peregrinatio contains the first depiction of a giraffe, designed by the artist Ehrard Reuwich, author of the engravings and the true architect of this brilliant book.

“[T]he first illustrated book of travel ever printed [...] [T]he folding panoramic views [...] are the first authentic representations of the famous places depicted, i. e., the ports usually visited by every pilgrim of the period [... The] artist was Erhard Reuwich [..., who] graphically record[ed] the impressions of the voyage” (Davies).

This work is considered the first authentic Western source for the Near and Middle East, as the illustrations were prepared from actual observation of the lands and people described. Breydenbach travelled to the Holy Land in 1483/84 with a large party including the artist Reuwich from Utrecht. Following the traditional route, they travelled from Venice to Corfu, Modon, Crete, Rhodes and Jaffa before arriving in Jerusalem, and then through the Sinai desert to Mt. Sinai, Cairo, and Alexandria on the return journey. The book quickly became extremely popular and was translated into French, Dutch and Spanish before 1500. It includes illustrations of Middle Eastern and Bedouin costume, a glossary of common Arabic words, and pictures of animals encountered on the journey (including a crocodile, a camel, and even a unicorn), as well as an Arabic alphabet - the latter of especial importance for being the first of its kind ever to see print: "The first representation of Arabic letters in a printed book was done in Germany; this was the woodcut of the Arabic alphabet in Bernhard von Breydenbach's 'Peregrinatio'" (Toomer).

The plates:

1. Allegorical frontispiece on the back of the first page depicting the Virgin, Mainz (Fairfax Murray), or the Serenissima, according to others, point of departure for pilgrims, with three escutcheons

2. Venice drawn a volo d’uccello from the top of the bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore, printed on 4 folding bifolia, put together two by two, forming a very large panorama (1680 x 305 mm), and with two leaves of text printed on the back of the image. Limitation: the two columns of the Piazzetta San Marco presenting horizontal (and not diagonal) hatching: characteristic of the original woodcuts (Davies, p. xxiii), and not posterior re-engraved woodcuts.

3. Parenzo or Poreč (Croatia) on one double page. Limitation: with the characteristics of the original woodcuts reported by Davies (p. xxiii)

4. Corfu, double page. Limitation: idem

5. Modon, printed on two foldout bifolia forming a smaller panorama (740 x 305 mm), the back of one of the two bifolia is printed and signed c3, the other is blank. Limitation: idem. We notice that the representation of the ship with the tailwind evokes that of the Columbus Letter in the Basel edition of 1494.

6. Candia (Crete) printed on two folding bifolia forming a smaller panorama (740 x 305 mm), the back of one of the two bifolia is printed and signed d1, the other is blank. Limitation: idem.

7. Rhodes printed on two folding bifolia forming a smaller panorama (740 x 305 mm) the back of one of the two bifolia is printed and signed d3, the other is printed but not signed (d4). We see many mills on the pier and a boat being caulked. Limitation: idem.

8. Jerusalem printed on four folding bifolia forming a large panorama (1270 x 310 mm), the back of one of the two bifolia presents a small engraving of the Holy Sepulcher (9), the other one a large engraving presenting animals encountered by the pilgrims (n8r) full-page print (10). Limitation: in the edition by Peter Drach, Spire 1502, the animals plate is printed on the back of a plate of Rhodes. In this edition by Peter Drach in 1490, it is printed on the back of a plate of Jerusalem and the horns of the giraffe cross the border. That is the hallmark of the original woodcut engravings, while in 1502 the horns don’t touch the frame (Davies, p. 8). For the plate of the Holy Sepulcher, which according to Davies and Fairfax Murray don’t appear in 1490, the print of the title in 1502 shows a not very linear engraving of the characters, which is not at all the case here: the plate shows a perfectly horizontal title which does belong to this edition of 1490 and with original woodcuts. The title of this large plate (Civitas Iherusalem) corresponds to the printing of the original engravings and not to that of 1502 (cf.Davies, ill., pp. 26 and 27).

11. Church of the Holy Sepulcher printed in the text. LIMITATION: that of the original engraving (cf. Davies p.30)

12-17. 6 engravings printed in the text representing the peoples encountered: Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Syrians, Abyssinians and Turks.

18-23. 6 engravings of alphabets: Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian (the Armenian alphabet is not required in this edition, cf. Davies p. XXV)

The 17 subjects are engraved after the drawings of the artist Erhard Reuwich, originally from Utrecht, who accompanied Breydenbach, and to which are added the engravings of the 6 alphabets.

The journey and pilgrimage:

As often in travelogues, Bernard von Breydenbach (1440-1497) is both the author and the protagonist of the work. This high dignitary of the Archdiocese of Mainz tells of his own pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The superb gothic frontispiece with its skillful shadows and volutes, shows three coats of arms located around the feet of the Virgin protecting the three pilgrims: Bernard von Breydenbach to the left, the chevalier Philip von Bicken (1415-1485) and the young Count Johann von Solms-Lich (1464-1483, died in Alexandria), Lord of Mintzenberg.

The pilgrims’ journey began on April 25, 1483. They left from Oppenheim, a few kilometers south of Mainz, and arrived in Venice two weeks later, where they remained for three weeks and met up with other pilgrims. Among them, the artist Erhard Reuwich and the brother Preacher Félix Fabri. They were in all around fifty, wealthy enough to each pay the sum of 42 ducats that the crossing of the Mediterranean from Venice to Jaffa would cost them. The galleys set sail on June 1, 1483 arriving on the 3rd in Parenzo, today Poreč in Croatia, that they left on the 4th to reach Corfu on June 12. The next stop was Modon, or Methoni, on the southern point of Peloponnese, on June 15. This Venetian port would be conquered in 1500 by the Turks. The ships reached Rhodes on June 18 which is described in length by the author. Leaving Rhodes on June 22, the pilgrims reached Cyprus on the 26th.

Then, their arrival in Jaffa on June 30, less than a month after having set sail. On July 11, 1483, the pilgrims entered Jerusalem. The nobles were made Knights of the Holy Sepulcher upon entering the church. The group visited Bethlehem on July 15, Bethany the next day. After having signed a contract with the Muslim governors of Jerusalem, they went to Saint Catherine and were on the banks of the Jordan on the 18th. On the 26th, “pagans” allowed them to enter the house of Saint Anne, transformed into a Mosque. Only eighteen valiant pilgrims decided to leave for the second pilgrimage headed to Mount Sinai, at the price of 23 ducats, the rest of the group returning to Jaffa. Departure took place on August 24, 1483.

Breydenbach lost his money in the desert. The pilgrims climbed Mount Sinai and visited the monastery of Saint Catherine on September 27. They reached the Red Sea on October 3, in Cairo Breydenbach described the pyramids. He was received by the Sultan on October 16. Then the group descended the Nile towards Alexandria where they were on October 26. The young Count de Solm died there. On October 30, they signed a contract to return on ships belonging to Venetians, whom Breydenbach says found to be tougher in business than the Muslims. They left Egypt on November 15 –several of them seriously ill due to the waters of the Nile– to make a triumphant entrance into Venice on January 8, 1484, after many adventures.

Many groups of pilgrims went to the East in the 15th century. The principal interest of Breydenbach’s group was to have been accompanied by the brilliant artist from Utrecht, Erhard Reuwich, known only by these woodcuts and mentioned twice in the work (in a5v and l5v). If twelve editions of the Peregrinatio were published between 1486 and 1522, only those which present the prints made by Reuwich’s original engravings are of any importance, and not those made from their copies.

These large panoramic views of Reuwich are distinguishable by their remarkable pictorial quality and their topographic precision as much as by the anecdotes they tell. They were all drawn on the spot by Reuwich and are in no way reconstructions or interpretations of other images. As such, the Perigrinatio is undoubtedly one of the first artists’ books ever printed, though that recognition is often given to Fridolin. Reuwich himself undertook the first printing of the book in Mainz in 1486, so he is too the architect of the book. As C. Dodgson pointed out at the beginning of the 20th century:

“Reuwich undertook the printing, and had the illustration cut on wood after his own drawings. The result was a truly epoch-making book far superior to any illustrated book of travels which had hitherto appeared containing large views of cities (...) and numerous smaller cuts of places, people, and animals, which the painter had drawn on his travels. This is the first instance in which a single painter is definitely known to have undertaken the illustration of a printed book. The instance was followed shortly by Wohlgemut at Nuremberg with the Nuremberg Chronicle” (Catalogue of Early German and Flemish woodcuts in the British Museum, I, D 20, pp. 225-226).

ISTC ib01190000; Fairfax Murray, German, I, n° 93, p. 175; H. Davies, Bernhard von Breydenbach and his journey to the Holy Land 1483-84. A Bibliography. Londres, 1911, II, p. 5 et ssq.; Goff B-1190 ; HC 3957* ; GW 5076 ; CIBN B-772; Elizabeth Ross, Picturing experience in the early printed book. Breydenbach’s Peregrinatio from Venice to Jerusalem, Penn Univeristy Press, 2014.

Engraved ex-libris at foot of a2 cipher “DHI”, the date of 1509 and a coat of arms with a griffin, and numerous near contemporary marginal annotations of one or two lines, quotation of a verse by Seneca excerpts from Thyeste on the back pastedown in brown ink by a 16th century hand; later with Thomas Scheler, Paris (1994); the private collection of Bernard Malle