David Robert Authentic First Quarto Edition Duo-Toned Tinted Lithograph Published in 1856 London, Middle East Architecture: Plate 151, General View of the Island of Philae, Nubia

Plate 151, General View of the Island of Philae, Nubia

A fine example from the first issue of David Robert' monumental works on the Middle East: The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia,  Egypt & Nubia, lithographed by Louis Haghe and published in London by Day & Son (1855-56) & considered the greatest lithographically illustrated works issued in the 19th century.

The firm of Day & Haghe was one of the most prominent lithographic companies of the nineteenth-century. They were also amongst the foremost pioneers in the evolution of chromolithography. The firm was established in 1823 by William Day, but did not trade under the moniker of Day & Haghe until the arrival of Louis Haghe in 1831. In 1838, Day & Haghe were appointed as Lithographers to the Queen. However, and perhaps owing to the fact that there was never a formal partnership between the two, Haghe left the firm in the 1850's to devote himself to watercolour painting. The firm continued as Day & Son under the guidance of William Day the younger (1823 - 1906) but, as a result of a scandal involving Lajos Kossuth, was forced into liquidation in 1867. Vincent Brookes bought the company in the same year, and would produce the caricatures for Gibson Bowles' Vanity Fair magazine, as well as the illustrations for Cassells's Poultry Book, amongst other commissions.

Original fine tinted lithograph, very clean overall condition good/ excellent. Please review the pictures carefully to be satisfied, as photos tell better than words. 

This print is from the quarto edition of David Robert’s Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia published in London in 1855-56, a fine tinted lithograph, an original, duo-toned, lithographed plate, printed on heavy stock paper, blank reverse side.

There is a hand-lithographed signature by David Roberts on the right of this plate.

Excellent condition, minute foxing like pin holes in one small spot, copy of book title plat included. Paper size: 11 ¼” x 8”, image area 8 1/4”x 5 1/2”. 

David Roberts RA (24th October 1796 – 25th November 1864) was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for a prolific series of detailed prints of Egypt and the Near East produced during the 1840s from sketches made during long tours of the region (1838-1840). This work, and his large oil paintings of similar subjects, made him a prominent Orientalist painter. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1841.

Roberts views of the Middle East are very popular for both their artistic appeal and historical importance. Roberts prints are considered to be some of the finest tintstone lithographs ever produced.

Roberts visited Syria and Egypt in 1838 and in 1839 reached the Holy Land, where he created the drawings that were later turned into stunning lithographs. When in the Middle East, he traveled by boat up the Nile and then by camel, with Arab hosts to guide him.

Roberts (1796-1864) has rendered the views in a style clear, simple and unlaboured, with a masterly vigour and boldness. Abbey regarded the work as `one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph'.

David Roberts was born at Stockbridge near Edinburgh (Scotland), and at the early age of 10 apprenticed to Gavin Buego, a house painter. He continued to work for Buego, also as an interior decorator, after his apprenticeship had been completed, carrying out work on imitation stone-work and paneling at Scone Palace and Abercairney Abbey.

By 1818 Roberts had become assistant scene painter at the Pantheon theatre in Edinburgh, moving on to work in theatres in Glasgow and finally in late 1821 to Drury Lane theatre in London, where he worked with Clarkson Stanfield. Both artists exhibited at the Society of British Artists, Royal Academy and British Institution, and by 1830 Roberts was firmly established as a topographical artist and was able to give up his theatre work. In these early years he toured the continent and Scotland, and in 1832-33 visited Spain.

In 1838 he made plans for his journey to the Near East, inspired by a love of artistic adventure; departing in August 1839 for Alexandria, he spent the remaining part of the year in Cairo, visiting the numerous tombs and sites. In February of the following year he set out to cross the desert for the Holy Land by way of Suez, Mount Sinai and Petra arriving in Gaza, and then on to Jerusalem, concluding his tour spending several months visiting the biblical sites of the Holy Land, and finally returning to England at the end of 1839. The drawings of his tour were submitted to F.G. Moon in 1840 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 supervising Louis Haghe's lithography. Both the exhibition of his original watercolours and the subsequent published work were an immediate success and confirmed his reputation as an architectural and landscape artist of the highest order.

Philae: The approach by water is quite the most beautiful. Seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of the river like a mirage. Piled rocks frame it on either side, and the purple mountains close up the distance. As the boat glides nearer between glistening boulders, those sculptured towers rise higher and even higher against the sky. They show no sign of ruin or age. All looks solid, stately, perfect. One forgets for the moment that anything is changed. If a sound of antique chanting were to be borne along the quiet air–if a procession of white-robed priests bearing aloft the veiled ark of the God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and pylons–we should not think it strange.

Since Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris, it was held in high reverence both by the Egyptians to the north and the Nubians (often referred to as "Ethiopians" in Greek) to the south. It was deemed profane for any but priests to dwell there and was accordingly sequestered and denominated "the Unapproachable". It was reported too that neither birds flew over it nor fish approached its shores. These indeed were the traditions of a remote period; since in the time of the Ptolemaic