"Egypt & Nubia: From Drawings Made On The Spot By David Roberts R.A. with Historical Descriptions By William Brockedon, F.R.S. Lithographed by Louis Haghe. Vol I. London, F.G. Moon, 20. Threadneedle Street. Publisher In Ordinary To Her Majesty. MDCCCXLVI." Elephant folio edition (sheetsize 614 x 425 mm.), lithographed title page with vignette views, 59 plates after Roberts' drawings lithographed by Louis Haghe. Illustrations include many color tinted examples mounted on card stock. Bears original half green morocco leather over pebbled blue cloth boards with spine featuring six raised hub bands with gilt-stamped title and ornate leafy floral motif. Includes marbled end-papers and gilt edges. Inside front cover bears a glued-down bookplate imprinted "Thomas J. Tyne Jr.". Roberts was born at Stockbridge near Edinburgh. At the age of 10 he became an apprentice house painter, progressing after his apprenticeship to imitation stonework and paneling at Scone Palace and Abercairney Abbey. In 1818 Roberts, a self-taught artist, used his skills to gain employment as an assistant scene painter at the Pantheon theatre in Edinburgh, moving on in 1821 to the Drury Lane Theatre in London where he worked alongside Clarkson Stanfield. Stanfield and Roberts exhibited at the society of British Artists, Royal Academy, and British Institution. By 1830 Roberts had firmly established a reputation as a topographical artist and was able to leave the theatre. This enabled him to travel repeatedly throughout Europe, and in particular Spain, from 1832-33. In 1838 Roberts left for Egypt visiting Alexandria, Cairo, and numerous tombs and sites. In 1839 he toured the Sinai Peninsula, Petra, Jerusalem, Palestine, and the coasts of Lebanon returning to England at the end of the year. The sketches of his tour were submitted to F.G. Moon in 1840 who paid him £3,000 for the copyright and forhis supervision of Haghes lithography. Roberts was keen for Haghe to receive due recognition of the finished work claiming that "Haghe has not only surpassed himself, but all that has hitherto been done of a similar nature. He has rendered the views in a style clear, simple and unlabored, with a masterly vigor and boldness which none but a painter like him could have transferred to stone." Abbey declared the work to be "one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph" (Abbey Travel 272 and 385). Even Ruskin praised his "absolutely careful and faithful" panoramas (Abbey). From the daily lives of modern Egyptians attending mosque prayers and shopping at the bazaar to glorious ancient ruins rising from desert sands, Roberts' emotive landscapes captured the hearts and imaginations of the Victorian British public. [Overall: 627mm H x 462mm W x 55mm D]. Age-toning and foxing (pronounced at margins) affecting images. Boards are soiled with wear at edges. Front board bears an 8mm x 50mm loss to pebbled cloth at top right.

Age-toning and foxing (pronounced at margins) affecting images. Boards are soiled with wear at edges. Front board bears an 8mm x 50mm loss to pebbled cloth at top right.