From Publishers Weekly
This magnificent, large-format album reproduces in jewel-like color the 123 lithographs resulting from an 1839 journey of Scottish landscape artist David Roberts (1796-1864) through Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Picturesque yet precisely detailed, these often breathtaking lithographs were made from Roberts's travel sketches by Belgian artist Louis Haghe between 1842 and 1849. The lithographs conjure the Holy Land as both a crossroads of civilization and a place where time stands still. Roberts recorded settings connected to the Bible, including Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. He also captured realistic views of monasteries, Bedouin sheiks and places like the ancient Lebanese port of Tyre and the spectacular Syrian city of Baalbec, with its Roman ruins. With each plate comes commentary by Italian journalist Bourbon, a brief excerpt from Roberts's travel journals and a contemporary photograph of the site taken by photojournalist Attini, revealing astonishing continuities over a century and a half.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
David Roberts was one of the most highly acclaimed landscape artists of the 19th century. In 1839, he undertook an adventurous journey across the Sinai Peninsula to Petra, Jerusalem, and Palestine, along the Lebanese coasts, and to the mysterious Baalbec. The lithographs based on the sketches executed during the remarkable exploration of the Holy Land won him a fame that endures to this very day. The Holy Land is an oversized full-color volume presenting Roberts' original plates arranged in chronological order with commentary and extracts from his journals. Moreover, each illustration is paired with a photograph that depicts the same composition and setting, nearly 150 years later. The Holy Land is a stirring form of time travel, in search of new, yet ancient, discoveries from one of the most fascinating regions on earth. Highly recommended! --
Midwest Book Review