Hand-coloured lithographs from David Roberts Egypt and Nubia

Transcription

1 Hand-coloured lithographs from David Roberts Egypt and Nubia Shapero Rare Books 32 Saint George Street, London W1S 2EA Tel:

2 Shapero Rare Books are pleased to offer a second selection of original, hand-coloured lithographs from David Roberts Egypt and Nubia, from the library at Stowe, one of the most magnificent English stately homes. The present selection are of the so-called half-page plates on account of the fact that in the ordinary edition of the book they are arranged on the page with text beneath. In the de-luxe edition however, these plates are presented in their proper grandeur by being placed in the middle of the page, allowing Roberts work to take centre-stage with good margins without any text to distract the eye. STOWE Owned by one family for almost 350 years, whose story takes in royal visits, family feuds and debt, Stowe is a breathtakingly beautiful creation of the 18th century. It s also one of the first and foremost of the great English landscape gardens. It reflects the work of two people in particular: Lord Cobham and his nephew, Earl Temple. Stowe reached its social peak in 1822 when Richard Temple was created 1st Duke of Buckingham. In 1845 the family laid on an extravagant welcome for Queen Victoria. But three years later the second Duke was bankrupt. The second Duke was a fraudster who took his family and Stowe to the brink of financial ruin. In 1847 bailiffs seized his assets and he fled abroad. His son took over; selling most of the contents of Stowe, but this did little to re-coup the Duke s 1 million debt. The scandal rocked the English aristocracy and appalled the public. The future of Stowe was in grave doubt. t The son s efforts to secure Stowe s future were undermined when he died in 1889, with no male heir. His daughter used Stowe rarely. When her son died in the First World War, Stowe was sold. Stowe was rescued in 1922, when it was turned into a school. The National Trust took over the upkeep of the gardens in THE IMAGES These lithographs are all from the first edition in the preferred deluxe coloured format of one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and it was the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph (Abbey Travel). No publication before this had presented so comprehensive a series of views of the monuments, landscape, and people of the Near East. These lithographs, from the deluxe issue have always been rare and sought-after. On publication they cost triple the price of the basic issue. All the lithographs are unrestored. The general condition of the images is fine; a few plates have slight foxing. All the plates offered have page dimensions of 60 x 44cm. Average image size 35 x 26cm. We can offer the lithographs elegantly framed for an additional each; or in a conservation standard decorated mount for each.

3 DAVID ROBERTS David Roberts, RA ( ), enjoyed a wide popularity in his day for his European views, but it is on the outstanding success of this project that the modern appreciation of his work is based. In August 1838 he arrived in Alexandria to start a carefully planned enterprise. It is claimed that he was the first European to have unlimited access to the mosques in Cairo, under the proviso that he did not commit desecration by using brushes made from hog s bristle. Leaving Cairo, he sailed up the Nile to record the monuments, travelling as far as Wadi Halfa and the Second Cataract. At the time of publication it was these views that excited the most widespread enthusiasm. Roberts had already discussed publication of the views with Finden before leaving for the Near East, but on his return both Finden and Murray, who was also approached, baulked at the risks involved in a publication of the size and grandeur envisaged. However, Francis Graham Moon - a self-made man from a modest background (ODNB) who had attracted the attention of the Queen and ventured to represent himself as Publisher in Ordinary to her Majesty - accepted the challenge, and persuaded Louis Haghe to lithograph Roberts s drawings. Roberts acknowledged that Haghe s work was hardly less important than his own, complimenting his masterly vigour and boldness. The burdensome demands of the task may have even prompted Haghe s early retirement as a lithographer. Widely recognised at the ultimate expression of tinted lithography, an artistic and commercial triumph, Roberts s Egypt & Nubia was the result of a uniquely fortuitous collaboration between artist, publisher and engraver.

4 1. Excavated Temple of Gyrshe, Nubia Statues of Memnon in the Plain of Goorna at Thebes. 275

5 3. The Sanctuary of the Great Temple of Aboo-Simbel, Nubia Ruins of Luxor from the South-West. 275

6 5. Side view of the Great Sphinx Temple of Dakke, in Nubia. 275

7 7. Cleopatra s Needle Temple of Wady Kardassy, Nubia 275

8 9. Abyssinian Slaves at Korth At Luxor, Thebes. 275

9 11. Approach to the Temple of Wady Saboua, Nubia A Colossal Statue at the entrance to the Temple of Luxor. 275

10 13. Gateway at Dendera Siout. 275

11 15. Nubian Women at Kortie, on the Nile Pyramids of Geezeh, from the Nile. 275

12 17. Pompey s Pillar Temple of Tafa in Nubia. 275

13 19. Entrance to the Caves of Beni Hasan Temple of Wady Saboua. 275

14 21. The Gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo Ruined Mosques in the Desert West of the Citadel. 275

15 23. One of the Tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo Tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo, The Citadel in the Distance. 275

16 25. Minaret of the Mosque El Rhamree The Holy Tree of Metereah. 275

17 27. Mosque of the Ayed Bey, in the Desert of Suez Minaret of the Principal Mosque in Siout, Upper Egypt. 275

18 29. Tombs of the Memlooks, Cairo, with an Arab Funeral Cairo: the Aqueduct of the Nile from the Island of Rhoda. 275

19 31. Principal Mosque at Boulak A group in the Slave-Market in Cairo. 275

20 33. The Nilometer on the Island of Rhoda, Cairo The Letter-Writer. 275

21 35. Tombs of the Mamelukes, Cairo The Ghawazees, or Dancing Girls of Cairo. 275