"The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. From drawings made on the spot by David Roberts. " London: F.G. Moon, 1842 (title page print dated 1842; most of the lithographs dated 1841). First volume. English.

First edition of the monumental work "The Holy Land… " by David Roberts, printed in large (folio) format, with hand-painted lithographs.

The present work represents the first part (out of three), devoted to Jerusalem and its environs. It contains illustrations of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, the Tower of David, Damascus Gate, the Golden Gate, the Tomb of Absalom, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, overviews of the city taken from its surrounding hills, and more.

The album is contained in an elegant binding created by the Hering Family of bookbinders; the company stamp appears on the front flyleaf: "Bound by Hering, 9 Newman St. "). On the front is a gilt impression of the emblem of Jerusalem – "Armorial ensigns of Jerusalem " – first presented following the conquest of Jerusalem in the First Crusade, 1099 CE (at least according to the explanation offered in the introduction).

Illustrations of the Holy Land by David Roberts are widely regarded as being among the finest achievements of 19th-century lithographic printing, and among the handsomest of photographic albums of the Holy Land ever published. The paintings were created in the course of Roberts’s expedition to the Near East in the years 1839-40, which he undertook by means of a camel caravan accompanied by armed bodyguards. This came about at a time when the cities of the Orient were mostly unknown to Western culture, and familiar to only a handful of English painters.

Upon Roberts’s return from his journey, 250 of his original paintings were processed, converted, and reproduced as large-size printed plates, rich in detail, by the painter and print artist Louis Haghe, all the while under Roberts’s direct supervision; with regard to Haghe’s work, Roberts stated that his original paintings were reproduced "with a masterly vigour and boldness which none but a painter like him [Haghe] could have transferred to stone... ".

The first edition of "The Holy Land... " was published in 1842, printed in full folio size (approx. 60 cm.) and in two different versions, one regular and the other hand-painted. In order to fund the project, over 600 subscribers were enlisted and required to pre-purchase their copies. These subscribers – members of the aristocracy and royalty from all across Europe – included Queen Victoria, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, the Austrian emperor, the Russian Tsar, the monarchs of France and Prussia, and others.

The copy reserved for Queen Victoria – designated as "Number One " on the list of subscribers – was given by the queen to her grandson Edward as a Christmas present in 1855. Today it is part of the Royal Collection (Item No. 1071157).

See next lot.

[1] leaves (title page, lithographic print), [3] leaves 30 pages, [24] pages + [21] lithographic plates. 62 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Inked stamp on title page.