The Holy Land: Yesterday and Today [Hardcover]

David Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

During the first months of 1839, David Roberts toured the Sinai Peninsula, Petra, Jerusalem, Palestine, the coasts of Lebanon, and Baalbec, returning to England to produce a series of moving and delightful lithographs detailing the region's splendors.

As with the companion volume, Egypt: Yesterday and Today, this oversized, full-color volume contains the original plates of the first edition, arranged for the first time in chronological order, with commentary and extracts from Roberts' journal.

Each illustration by Roberts, moreover, is paired with a photograph that depicts the same subject and setting more than a century and a half later.

The Holy Land offers an unforgettable taste of Roberts' technical and artistic virtuosity. This is a stirring form of time travel, in search of new, yet ancient, discoveries in one of the most fascinating regions on the face of our planet.

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9774243919
• ISBN-13: 978-9774243912
• Product Dimensions: 14.3 x 10.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #855,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent book, of a special artist, January 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Holy Land: Yesterday & Today (Hardcover)

This book pairs gorgeous lithographs made by David Roberts circa 1800 with photos of the sites as they appear today. Another volume "Jerusalem and the Holy Land Rediscovered : The Prints of David Roberts (1796-1864)" has somewhat better and larger reproductions of the lithographs, but lacks the photos. Personally, I think the photos are interesting, but "Jerusalem and the Holy Land Rediscovered : The Prints of David Roberts (1796-1864)" does a somewhat better job of capturing the magic of David Roberts.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible Production Major Disappointment, February 9, 2007

By 

androphilus "androphilus" (california) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Holy Land: Yesterday and Today (Hardcover)

I ordered both volumes, "Egypt, Yesterday and Today" and "The Holy Land, Yesterday and Today". Nothing could have ever destroyed the beauty of David Roberts work as this aweful production. Most plates are printed on two opposite pages in such a way that disrupts the sweeping landscape effect intended by Roberts. A third grade student could have seen that printing the book sideways in a landscape fashion would have allowed each plate to be reproduced on one page as in integral display exactly the way that Roberts intended it to be, with the text recent photograph on the opposite page.

It is fascinating how stupidity and terrible production can destroy magnificent artwork.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Roberts prints, February 25, 2009

By 

Charles Erwin "catrancher" (KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Holy Land: Yesterday and Today (Hardcover)

Any one who wants to know 'what was it like' before mondern man 'messed' it up, will love this book. To see how sites looked in the 1800's and now shows the stark contrast. Like going back in time.