Folio Archives 291: The Holy Land, and Egypt and Nubia LIMITED EDITION by David Roberts 2010
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1wcarter
The Holy Land, and Egypt and Nubia LIMITED EDITION by David Roberts 2010
These two volumes are MASSIVE and MAGNIFICENT! There is no other way to describe them.
In 1838 Roberts arrived in Egypt and started drawing the unique architecture he saw. He was a superb artist who rendered the people and places he saw in almost photographic detail. He traveled up the Nile the following year to Nubia, continuing to record everything in his art. He then headed across the Sinai into the Holy Land (now Jordan and Israel) to continue his artistic journey through Petra and past the Dead Sea to Jerusalem and beyond. The result is a collection of 247 colour lithographs that are reproduced here at almost their full size. On return to London his work was acclaimed as the finest art pilgrimage that has ever been performed by one man and he was elected to the Royal Academy.
Each drawing is described in full either below the drawing or on the opposite page. The original title pages of the 1842 edition are reproduced in facsimile in each volume, as is the dedication, details of Robert’s journey, and a history of Israel and Egypt. There is a monochrome map at the back of each volume. Egypt and Nubia has 260 pages and The Holy Land 286 pages.
Both volumes are bound in full red canvas, pictorially blocked on the covers in black and gilt with one of Robert’s drawings. The books have red ribbon markers, the top page edges are gilded and the endpapers are plain red. The red slipcases are embossed with gilt script titles on their front, have a text support block in the bases and measure a whopping 52.2x36cm.
My copy is number 400 out of the 1000 published. Both volumes are numbered. The original cost for the set was £895.
A much smaller standard edition of this book was published by the Folio Society in 2014.
Standard FS book (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) for size comparison.
Congratulations! You reached the end of a massive post about two massive books.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
These two volumes are MASSIVE and MAGNIFICENT! There is no other way to describe them.
In 1838 Roberts arrived in Egypt and started drawing the unique architecture he saw. He was a superb artist who rendered the people and places he saw in almost photographic detail. He traveled up the Nile the following year to Nubia, continuing to record everything in his art. He then headed across the Sinai into the Holy Land (now Jordan and Israel) to continue his artistic journey through Petra and past the Dead Sea to Jerusalem and beyond. The result is a collection of 247 colour lithographs that are reproduced here at almost their full size. On return to London his work was acclaimed as the finest art pilgrimage that has ever been performed by one man and he was elected to the Royal Academy.
Each drawing is described in full either below the drawing or on the opposite page. The original title pages of the 1842 edition are reproduced in facsimile in each volume, as is the dedication, details of Robert’s journey, and a history of Israel and Egypt. There is a monochrome map at the back of each volume. Egypt and Nubia has 260 pages and The Holy Land 286 pages.
Both volumes are bound in full red canvas, pictorially blocked on the covers in black and gilt with one of Robert’s drawings. The books have red ribbon markers, the top page edges are gilded and the endpapers are plain red. The red slipcases are embossed with gilt script titles on their front, have a text support block in the bases and measure a whopping 52.2x36cm.
My copy is number 400 out of the 1000 published. Both volumes are numbered. The original cost for the set was £895.
A much smaller standard edition of this book was published by the Folio Society in 2014.
Standard FS book (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) for size comparison.
Congratulations! You reached the end of a massive post about two massive books.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2Hamwick
>1 wcarter: I have been eyeing this book on eBay and AbeBooks for a while, so thank you for posting this. It is even nicer than I had hoped. Consider me enabled.
3SimB
>1 wcarter:
The standard edition is still pretty big! 39 x 28 cm.
The standard edition is still pretty big! 39 x 28 cm.
4gmacaree
I love these books (I have the smaller fine version, not the LE, which must be unfathomably big) but I am not a fan of the typography. I know these are replicas of the originals, but they'd be easier to read with an update to the typesetting.
5cwl
The LE was also not as large as the originals by a few centimetres (80-85% if distant memory serves). I queried these with FS at the time and never did discover why they didn’t do a straight facsimile. What I don’t know, as I’ve never checked, is whether the extra size is simply margins beyond the plates, and whether the plates themselves are therefore reproduced in full.
To echo, this is of the great LEs from the end of JWB’s tenure.
To echo, this is of the great LEs from the end of JWB’s tenure.
7cwl
>6 MobyRichard: Yes, those figures sound correct for the page size from what I remember, but they don’t give the plate dimensions. Easy enough to find if I had the time and need to check, but I don’t.
8stumc
I only have the fine edition of this, but it's still pretty big and very impressive. it was on sale at one point, I think for £125.
I've not read it fully yet, but frequently look at the amazing artwork
I've not read it fully yet, but frequently look at the amazing artwork
9HugoDumas
>1 wcarter: I have been to Egypt, Israel, Petra Jordan, and Mt. Sinai/St. Catherine Monastery 3 times. So this amazing work has special meaning for me. It is a fabulous read. I considered this 2 volume set at the same time Easton Press was publishing their gorgeous 3 volume set in royal blue leather. I went with the smaller Folio SE because EP unfortunately published the inferior lithographs which were NOT embellished like the original Folios. Folio Society chose the correct edition to reproduce.
For those who cannot afford the FS editions please note there are a number of reasonably priced editions in 2 volumes fully reproducing David’s diary as well as all 248 hand-painted lithographs: for instance, White Star Publishers has a beautiful 2 volume 11” x 8” publication with slipcover.
For those who cannot afford the FS editions please note there are a number of reasonably priced editions in 2 volumes fully reproducing David’s diary as well as all 248 hand-painted lithographs: for instance, White Star Publishers has a beautiful 2 volume 11” x 8” publication with slipcover.
10Jobasha
>1 wcarter:
As an demonstration of how good Folio Sales were in the past, the SE went on sale for $200AUD.
As an demonstration of how good Folio Sales were in the past, the SE went on sale for $200AUD.
