12 mo. [32], 136 pp., [20 Index], Latin text, contemporary vellum, soiled, manuscript title to spine, browning and staining throughout, previous owner’s contemporary inscription verso front cover and on title page, Editio Postrema, Coloniae Agrippinae: In Officina Birckmannica, sumptibus Arnoldi Mylij amended and enlarged edition, 1592.

Synopsis

Christiaan van Adrichom, also named Christianus Crucius, priest and theological writer, was born in Delft, and was ordained in 1566. He was Director of the Convent of St. Barbara in Delft until expulsion in the turmoil of the Reformation. Adrichom prepared the maps for the work, but died prior to publication of the first edition published by Gerardus Brunius, canon at Deventer, in 1590. The maps include one general map of Palestine, ten maps of the tribes and a fine, large, folding engraved plan of Jerusalem. The work gives a description of Palestine, the antiquities of Jerusalem, and a chronology from Adam until the death of John the Apostle, and continuing until 1585. On pp. 145-181 is the description of Jerusalem, earlier printed in 1584 with many later editions and translations (Bibl. Belg. A 109-124) with additions on pp. 182-8; pp. 192-200 contain a chronological table; pp. 201-260 are dedicated to the Old Testament, with chronology; pp. 261-286 are devoted to the life of Jesus and the apostles, with a chronology. Two pages contain an interesting crude bibliography of the Holy Land, and the following 24 pages are devoted to the index. The work concludes with a list of the maps. As Van Adrichem based his work on sources which are now lost; the description of Jerusalem by his brother-in-law Ysbrand Godfriedsz, for example, his work remains important in the study of the history of Palestine and Israel. All five editions up to 1628 were issued by the same publisher and were page-for-page re-editions.
Bibliographic references for the first edition: Blackmer 7; Rohricht 791; Tobler p. 210, Nordenskiold Collection 1, I.