Local history

The discovery of the complete volumes of the first edition of 'The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia' by David Roberts has delighted staff and volunteers at the Yorkshire Museum. It is one of only 400 copies of the first edition ever made. Other copies of the 1842 edition were sold to Queen Victoria and the Tsar of Russia.

View of Bethlehem by David Roberts

The large books feature hand-coloured lithographs of places throughout the Holy Land in 1838-39. Andrew Morrison, Curator of Archaeology at the Museum, said "The books are a truly fantastic find and it is great that they have been unearthed so close to Christmas."

Edinburgh born artist David Roberts (1796-184) was the first person to make a trip specifically to paint the Holy Land, with the intention of selling the images back in Britain. His tour, in 1838-29, included the most famous Christian sites such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the city of Jerusalem.

Andrew Morrison with one of the rare volumes

For the 1842 first edition Roberts insisted on the 240 lithographs being reproduced on a large scale and in colour. Louis Haghe, who is now regarded as one of the finest lithographers, created the illustrations based on Roberts' paintings. The scale of the books and the fact that all the lithographs were coloured by hand made them hugely expensive to produce and only the rich could afford them.

As Andrew Morrison from the museum explains the books are a great asset to the museum's library, "Complete copies of this book are extremely rare because so few were published and also because many were often taken apart, so that the prints could be sold separately.

Chancel of the Church of St Helena, Bethlehem

"David Roberts was one of the first photo journalists and his incredibly detailed paintings of the Middle East gave British society a fabulous insight into the everyday life of people in a world completely different from theirs."

The volumes were found by volunteers from the Yorkshire Philosophical Society who are currently re-cataloguing the library at the Yorkshire Museum. The society founded the museum in 1822 and ran it until 1960 when they donated it to the city. The volumes aren't listed in the last catalogue of the library which was was printed in 1900. The society and the museum are now hoping to track down the provenance of the books.