Beschreibung:

ROBERTS, David R.A. (1796-1864) The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia ... with historical descriptions by the Revd. George Croly . [ And :] Egypt and Nubia ... with historical descriptions by William Brockedon . London: F.G. Moon, 1842-1849. 6 volumes bound in 5, large broadsheets (603 x 434mm). Mounted lithographic frontispiece portrait of Roberts by C. Baugniet, on India paper, in both volumes I and II, 5 tinted lithographic titles (of 6) and 241 plates lithographed by Louis Haghe after David Roberts 2 engraved maps. (Occasional spotting, affecting images of plates only infrequently and seldom heavily, lacks title to volume III of the Holy Land .) Contemporary black armorial calf by Clyde, covers with ensigns of Jerusalem within wide dentelle borders, spines gilt, gilt inner dentelles, gilt edges (spines worn at head and foot, other extremities rubbed), in modern wood stand. Provenance : Sir James M. Hogg (bookplate). FIRST EDITION AND A GOOD, LARGELY CLEAN COPY of Roberts' monumental work on Palestine and the Near East. In this issue, the half-page plates and the descriptive text are printed on the same leaves. The Holy Land has been bound in two volumes (with title to volume III omitted) and Egypt and Nubia in the usual three volumes. The order in which the plates are bound has some irregularities, with plates 26-43 of volume I actually occuring in volume II, and plates 87-105 of volume III in volume I. Issued in 41 parts over 7 years in 3 states -- tinted, tinted proofs, coloured and mounted on card -- this is indisputably the finest topographical work on the Near East ever published, thanks not only to Roberts' sense of architectural effect but Louis Haghe's masterly lithography. Roberts paid tribute to Haghe's work in glowing terms: 'Haghe has not only surpassed himself, but all that has hitherto been done of a similar nature. He has rendered the views in a style clear, simple and unlaboured, with a masterly vigour and boldness which none but a painter like him could have transferred to stone', while Abbey describes the work as 'one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and ... the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph' (Abbey Travel p. 341). David Roberts was born at Stockbridge near Edinburgh, and at the age of 10 was apprenticed to Gavin Buego, a house-painter. He continued to work for Buego after his apprenticeship, carrying out work on imitation stone-work and panelling at Scone Palace and Abercairney Abbey. By 1818 Roberts had become assistant scene-painter at the Pantheon theatre in Edinburgh, moving on to theatres in Glasgow, and finally in late 1821 to Drury Lane, London, where he worked with Clarkson Stanfield He exhibited at the Society of British Artists, Royal Academy and British Institution, and by 1830 was finally established as a topographical artist. He toured the Continent and Scotland, and in 1832-33 visited Spain. In August 1839, he departed for Alexandria, and spent much of the remaining year in Cairo, his love of artistic adventure inspiring him to visit numerous tombs and sites. In February the following year, Roberts crossed the desert by way of Suez, his route taking him to Mount Sinai and Petra before his arrival in Gaza, and eventually to Jerusalem. Several more months were spent visiting biblical sites before his return to England at the end of 1840. The drawings of his tour were submitted to F.G. Moon who arranged to bring out a work illustrative of scripture history, paying Roberts £3,000 for the copyright of the sketches, and for his labour in superintending Louis Haghe's lithography. Abbey Travel 272 and 385; Tooley 401-2; Blackmer 1432. (5)