ROBERTS, David (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. London: Day & Son, 1855-1856.

ROBERTS, David (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. London: Day & Son, 1855-1856.

The first quarto edition of Roberts’s Holy Land—“the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph” (Abbey). Roberts, an artist and scenic designer admired by Turner, left London for Alexandria in 1839, spending the year visiting and painting the major sites of the Middle East. The publication of his records of the journey in collaboration with lithographer Louis Haghe was described by Ruskin as “true portraiture” and “faithful and laborious beyond any outlines from nature.” Abbey Travel 388.

Six parts in three volumes, quarto (291 x 205mm). 250 tinted lithographs, including frontispieces, engraved titles, and maps (some light marginal spotting, occasionally affecting plates). Contemporary black morocco gilt, boards with centered crest of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, edges gilt (light wear to extremities).

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR