{"product_id":"the-holy-land-syria-idumea-arabia-egypt-nubia-easton-press-deluxe-limited-edition","title":"The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt \u0026 Nubia (Easton Press Deluxe Limited Edition)","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eROBERTS, David\u003c\/strong\u003e (lithographs Louis Haghe). \u003cem\u003eThe Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt \u0026amp; Nubia.\u003c\/em\u003e Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 2014. 3 vols.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eQuarto (21.5 × 29 cm). All three volumes bound in full royal blue leather. Spines with raised bands, elaborately decorated and gilt-lettered. Elaborate gilt decoration to boards and spines. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Satin ribbon page markers. Vol.I: \u003cem\u003eJerusalem \u0026amp; Galilee. Jordan \u0026amp; Bethlehem. \u003c\/em\u003ePlates 1-87. Vol.II: \u003cem\u003eIdumea \u0026amp; Petra. Egypt \u0026amp; Nubia. \u003c\/em\u003ePlates 88-168; Vol.III: \u003cem\u003eEgypt \u0026amp; Nubia\u003c\/em\u003e. Plates 169-250. 250 colour lithographic plates throughout all three volumes, reproduced in full facsimile from the original 1842–49 publication. \u003cstrong\u003eDeluxe Limited Edition. Limited to 800 numbered copies, this being number 64. Now out of print.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facsimile of the original edition: London: F. G. Moon, 1842–49; first quarto edition: London: Day \u0026amp; Son, 1855–56.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eDavid Roberts (1796–1864) was born near Edinburgh, the son of a shoemaker, and came to painting through an apprenticeship to a house decorator before becoming a scene painter for theatres in Glasgow and Edinburgh. By the time he left for the Holy Land in 1838 he was the most successful theatrical scene painter in London and an established easel painter whose reputation was about to be transformed into something altogether more significant. He spent eleven months travelling through Egypt, Nubia, Sinai, the Holy Land, Syria, and Lebanon, producing approximately 272 pencil and watercolour sketches of the landscapes, monuments, ancient sites, and contemporary life of the region — a body of topographical work that remains, nearly two centuries later, among the most important visual records of the nineteenth-century Middle East.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe journey Roberts made was genuinely hazardous. He travelled up the Nile to the Second Cataract, visited Abu Simbel — cutting his name into the stonework, as travellers did — and moved through Petra, Jerusalem, Baalbek, Beirut, and Damascus before returning to London in 1839. What he had seen, and what his sketches recorded, was a world undergoing rapid transformation even as he watched: ancient sites already damaged, populations shifting, the slow dissolution of the Ottoman order already visible to an attentive observer. Many of the monuments he depicted have since been significantly altered, destroyed, or in the case of some Nubian sites, submerged beneath the waters of Lake Nasser. His record has consequently acquired a documentary importance that supplements its artistic one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe lithographs that translate Roberts's pencil sketches into print were made by Louis Haghe (1806–1885), the Belgian-born lithographer who had settled in London and was regarded as the finest practitioner of the medium in Europe. The conversion of a sketch to a lithographic stone — the decisions about line, tone, and shading that determine what the printed image will eventually be — required artistic judgment as much as technical skill, and Haghe's interpretation of Roberts's originals produced plates of extraordinary quality: tinted with meticulous care to evoke the specific quality of light in each location, and composed with a spatial intelligence that matches Roberts's own. The original publication, issued in parts by F. G. Moon between 1842 and 1849, was one of the most ambitious and expensive plate book projects of the century, and it was received with corresponding enthusiasm. Queen Victoria subscribed to the parts. The Royal Academy awarded Roberts full membership in 1841, before the publication was even complete, in recognition of what he had already produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe Easton Press Deluxe Limited Edition is a full-size facsimile faithful to the original format, reproducing all 250 colour lithographic plates at their original dimensions across three quarto volumes bound in royal blue leather. The edition was announced in September 2014 and sold out from the publisher in December 2019.\u003cspan class=\"inline-flex\" data-state=\"closed\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNear fine. \u003c\/strong\u003eSome very mild foxing to the flyleaf of Volume I and some spots of rubbing to cover gilt. Otherwise, fine throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlease note: This is a large three-volume set and is very heavy. Additional postage costs will apply. Please contact us for a shipping quote before purchase.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis book is currently not on display in store. If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: \u003ca class=\"underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current\/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current\" href=\"mailto:rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\"\u003erarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue Number: HH000380\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David Roberts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49231473148147,"sku":"1110002940613","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/2_9fc09b0a-74ac-40d0-89ff-0e4276f31c28.png?v=1781052877","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/the-holy-land-syria-idumea-arabia-egypt-nubia-easton-press-deluxe-limited-edition","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}