FULLER, Thomas. A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines thereof, with the History of the Old and New Testament acted thereon. London: Printed by J.F. for John Williams. 1650.
Folio. Modern panelled calf, spine with raised bands, ornamented in gilt and with morocco lettering-piece; pp. [vii], 434, 202, [36], extremely erratic pagination, conform with ESTC, additional engraved title, plate with names and coat-of-arms of sponsors of the publication, large folding map of the Holy Land (backed with archival material and housed in pocket at rear), 27 double-page engraved plates, maps and plans; upper edges browned almost throughout, several expert oder marginal restorations; a very good copy, rarely seen complete, and mostly with major faults; previous collector's binding and restoration insctructions loosely inserted, inoffensive blind-stamps of Public Fee Library Ashton under Lyme.
First edition of a magnificent 17th-century book on the Holy Land. Fuller, a Royalist clergyman with friends on the other side of the Civil War had become increasingly disconcerted with the divisions of the land, and increasing religious intolerance pushed by the Puritans, best expressed in his 1647 Good Thoughts in Worse Times, where he 'expressed a doubting mood approaching despair' (ODNB). 'The interregnum, which brought many radical and unwelcome changes as far as Fuller was concerned, was, paradoxically, a remarkably productive period for him as a scholar and writer. His Pisgah-Sight of Palestine (1650), a historical and geographical description of the Holy Land, was well received. It carried perhaps an implied message: if ancient Jerusalem and its temple could be rebuilt, so, too, could the nearly shattered Church of England' (ibid.). The title is inspired by the location, Mount Pisgah, from where Moses had the first and last glance of the Promised Land. Fuller's book is the first serious English attempt to understand the geography, topography and tribal history of Palestine, including the Jewish way of life before the diaspora. One of the main sources the very well-read author used is the 16th-century Dutch Catholic priest and author of Theatrum Terrae Sanctae et Biblicarum Historiarum (Cologne, 1590), which had been in the making for 30 years. 'His major historical writings were erudite, original in scope, and written with verve in a style distinctively his own' (ibid.).
ESTC No.R18096.
#2122170