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Beautiful original hand-colored lithograph of the Grand Portico of the Temple of Philae — one of the most dramatic and sought-after of David Roberts’ Egypt plates— from the Royal Subscribers Edition first issue of Roberts’ landmark work, Egypt and Nubia.
All First Edition Roberts Prints are rare in their own right. The Deluxe Edition (Also known as the Royal Subscribers Edition) even more so, and only a few hundred were published. The Deluxe Edition cost subscribers around 3 times more than the Standard Edition. The aim of the Deluxe Edition was to make the images appear like watercolours, rather than Prints, hence the lack of margins and mounting to card.
David Roberts’ lithographs (produced from watercolor sketches he made in Egypt during the late 1830’s) were the inspiration of many of the visual details in A Cat Out of Egypt. A Scottish painter born in 1796, Roberts spent his early career years as a scene painter for various theatres in Scotland and England. Thanks to the encouragement of J.M.W. Turner, the well-known “painter of light,” Roberts eventually abandoned scene-painting entirely and turned to fine art. Hoping to capitalize on the current popularity of all things ancient Egyptian, he toured Egypt, Nubia, and what is now Israel, Syria, and Jordan, from 1838 – 1840, sketching archaeological and contemporary scenes.
