The National Library of Israel is making a small selection of some 466 rare maps and books of Israel, available to be seen online. The maps are part of a new gift received from collector Howard I. Golden. The collection consists of some 466 rare maps and 120 books with prints, illustrations and maps, all of the land of Israel.
A significant percentage of the maps were printed before 1700 and are therefore defined as rare.
Dr. Raquel Ukeles, Head of Collections at the National Library of Israel, said, “This exquisite collection of rare maps and books dramatically expands our holdings of Holy Land maps, and reinforces our standing at the forefront of historical cartographic research and inquiry.”
Printed and hand-colored map of the Land of Israel oriented west (1593)
Dutch-language map. Printed in Antwerp with illustrations of Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Nativity, ships, and a sea monster. Printed from the same plate as the first edition published by in 1578 by Gerard de Jode (1511-1591), and enlarged by his son Cornelis de Jode (1568-1600). The view of Jerusalem and the illustrations are drawn after the Venetian map publisher and engraver Fernando Bertelli (1525-1572).
Hand-colored map of the Land of Israel oriented east (~1653).
Map text in Latin with Dutch-language on the obverse. Printed in Amsterdam with illustrations of Bible stories: the Children of Israel crossing the Jordan, the murder of Absalom, the anointing of King Saul by the prophet Samuel, David facing Goliath, Abigail’s offering to David, and more. Published by Joost Hartgers (active 1650).
Printed and hand-colored map of the Land of Israel oriented west (~1725)
Map text in Latin. Printed in Amsterdam with illustrations of Bible stories: the route of the Exodus from Egypt, the prophet Jonah on his ship and the great fish lying in wait, ships bringing cedars of Lebanon to build King Solomon’s temple, Moses with the Ten Commandments, the 12 tribes surrounding the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the Menorah, the showbread table, and more. Published by Samuel Schoonwald (1690-1738).
Printed and hand-colored map of Terra Promissionis (The Promised Land) oriented north (1656)
Map text in Latin. The first edition was published in Promissionis topographicae atque historice descripta by diplomat Michael Eytzinger (also Aitzinger) (1530-1598), a 1583 monograph that included a folded map of the Holy Land. This brilliantly colored copy of the map is a later edition of the original copperplate, (publisher not identified), showing the route of the Exodus from Egypt, parting of the Red Sea, Golden Calf, Israelites gathering manna, and more.
NLI’s map collection consists of almost 2,000 antique maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as well as antique maps of other parts of the world, modern maps of the State of Israel and of Israeli cities (from before and after the establishment of the State), modern maps of other countries in the region, contemporary maps of Israel, ancillary works about cartography, journals and reference works.
The NLI map collection includes maps in European languages, Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic.
