Heinrich Bunting (1545-1606) was born in Hannover, Germany, in 1545 and went on to study at Wittenberg University. He was a respected Protestant theologian and became a pastor at Gronau. This book is his most noted work and despite there being several editions in different countries is one of the rarest. Here it is in fine original condition. It was first published in 1581 and is best known for its cartographical curiosities including the famous clover leaf image of the world, the Pegasus map of Asia and the depiction of Europe as a queen.

The ‘Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae’ re-writes the bible as a travel book, the majority of which describes the geography of the Holy Land. The end of the work describes the coinage of the biblical era. The end of the book describes the coinage of the biblical era. The first map in the work is the famous image of the world displayed as a clover leaf. The three ‘leaves’ each representing the three main continents of Europe, Asia and Africa with Jerusalem at the centre. Three countries or regions lie outside of this arrangement, Britain and Scandinavia and in the lower left corner the new discovered continent of America. Adorning the seas are the usual depictions of sea monsters and mermaids.

The map of Asia utilises the image of Pegasus, the winged horse of mythology. Europe is illustrated as a queen, a depiction first used by Joannes Bucius in 1537. Spain in the west is represented by the crowned head. Denmark represents the left arm and Italy the right with Sicily representing an orb. An expanding Eastern Europe is seen as the dress. Some carto-bibliographers believe the image is in fact that of the Emperor Charles V. It illustrates the imperial power of Spain at the time.

The book contains in all 12 woodcut plates of which 8 are double page maps, 2 single page of the Holy Land and two double page views of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon. A further world map is entitled ‘Cosmographia Universalis’ and depicts what might at first glance appear to be a remarkably accurate image of western Australia. It is in fact the not unusual early depiction of south-east Asia. The book is famous because it includes some of the earliest cartographic curiosity maps. The ‘Itinerarium’ was a popular work which extended to ten editions in seven languages over the ensuing seventy years. This is a further edition of the first in 1581 using the original woodblocks. Van der Heijden ‘De Oudste Gedruckte Kaarten van Europa’ no. 42, Hill (1978) ‘Cartographical Curiosities’ pp. 38-40, Map Collectors Circle 1 no. 2, Shirley world 142 & 143; Tooley Map Collector Collations no. 3 p. 48.