[VOYAGES AND TRAVELS]. ROBERTS, David (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia... London: Lithographed, Printed, and Published

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Summer Fine Books & Manuscripts

By Potter & Potter Auctions

Jul 9, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-07-09 11:00:00 2026-07-09 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Summer Fine Books & Manuscripts https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/potter-potter/summer-fine-books-manuscripts-22825
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• Lot Description

  [VOYAGES AND TRAVELS]. ROBERTS, David (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia... London: Lithographed, Printed, and Published by Day & Son, Lithographers to the Queen, 1855-1856. 4tos. Six volumes in three (as issued). [8], [35], [1, blank], [44]; [1], [1, blank], [3], [1, blank], [44]; [3], [38]; [1], [1, blank], [9], [1, blank], [44]; [1], [1, blank], [44]; [40] pp. Illustrated with 250 plates, including six title vignettes and three maps. Original blue cloth ruled and stamped decoratively in gilt with a gilt-lettered and gilt-decorated spine. All edges gilt. FIRST QUARTO EDITION OF ROBERTS' MONUMENTAL WORK, WHICH WAS FIRST PUBLISHED AS A SIX-VOLUME ELEPHANT FOLIO IN FORTY-TWO FORT-NIGHTLY PARTS (1842-1849).

  Condition

  All volumes rebacked, preserving the original spines, later (?) endleaves, binding extremities worn with a few chips, tears, and bumps to all volumes. Preliminary blank of Volume I has a contemporary ink inscription, a later mid-twentieth pencil inscription, and twentieth century ink signature to recto of preliminary blank. Light to moderate foxing and toning throughout to all volumes. The occasional minor tear or crease. A few plates lack tissue guards. A very good copy, clean and bright. 

• Provenance

  The six volumes here are a new edition, in smaller format, of the two great three-volume works (the Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia and Egypt & Nubia) collectively known as Roberts's Holy Land. An advertisement in the Monthly Literary Advertiser for June 1855 states that "to ensure positive identity between this and the original edition, the whole of the plates have been reduced to the required size by means of photography. "In point of bulk ambition Roberts's Holy Land was one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and it was the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph... [There] is pleasure to be had from many of the individual plates, where Haghe's skillful and delicate lithography, and his faithful interpretation of Roberts's draughtsmanship and dramatic sense, combine in what are undoubtedly remarkable examples of tinted lithographic work. Particularly in the Egypt and Nubia section, one feels that the colossal subjects and broad vistas were ideally suited to Roberts's talent, trained as he was in theatrical scene-painting..." (Abbey). Abbey 388. Oxford DNB.

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