Lot 298
David Roberts – The Holy Land – Early, Folio Edition – London, 1842-1845 – 123 Lithographs – With a List of Subscribers
The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. From Drawings Made On The Spot By David Roberts. London: F.G. Moon, 1842-1845 (lithographed title pages are dated 1842-1843; some of the lithographs are dated 1844-1845). Three volumes bound in two. English.
Early edition of David Roberts's monumental work, The Holy Land, with 123 lithographs. Folio. The lithographs, after drawings by Roberts, depict edifices, towns, landscapes and sites sacred to the various religions throughout Palestine and the Middle East, documentation of the journeys undertaken by Roberts during the years 1839-1840. The work was first published during the years 1842-1849. The first three volumes were published during the years 1842-1845, in 20 parts (divided into 18 portfolios), with lithographic title pages for the first and second volumes only. Later, the three additional volumes were published, as well as a lithographic title page for the third volume and a map. The present lot comprises the first three volumes, bound in two, with 123 lithographs – a portrait of Roberts, title pages for the first two parts and 120 additional lithographs (some full-page and some half-page). Bound at the end of the second volume is a list of subscribers (4 pp; rare ). The subscribers include Charles Dickens, William Morris and John Raskin. The Holy Land is considered one of the most important ventures of 19th century lithographic printing. The drawings were executed by Roberts during a journey to the Near East in 1839-1840; Roberts was accompanied by armed bodyguards in a caravan of camels. Some of these bodyguards served Roberts as models in his drawings. The lithographs based on the drawings were made by several important lithographers, including Louis Haghe, and their preparation, supervised by Roberts, took almost ten years. The lithographs were eventually published in two editions – one plain, one hand-colored, and became one of the most well-known printing projects of the 19th century. To fund the printing, more than 600 subscribers signed up in advance – including aristocrats and European rulers: Queen Victoria, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, the Austrian Emperor, the Russian Tzar, the kings of France and Prussia and others. Due to the success of the edition, a smaller edition, offered at a lower price, was published several years later (see item 300). Three volumes bound in two. With all the lithographs published in these volumes present (without the title page and map printed later) and text leaves, bound out of sequence. Without list of prints (as issued?); some text leaves possibly missing.
Volume I : [29] lithographic plates, [27] plates with in-text lithographs and 40 pp. of text. Volume II : [34] lithographic plates, [33] plates with in-text lithographs and 4 pp. of text (list of subscribers). 60 cm. Good condition. Stains. Blemishes to margins. Several detached or partly detached leaves. Half leather bindings; wear and abrasions; losses to spines (spine of the second volumes almost completely missing, with strips of tape).
