The Cairo Portfolio: Collector’s Edition

by David Roberts

This handsome portfolio contains ten fine art prints of David Roberts’ superb lithographs of nineteenth-century Cairo, selected from Yesterday and Today (AUC Press, 1996). Between 1842 and 1849, on the basis of sketches made on the spot and aided by his excellent memory, Roberts produced the drawings that Louis Haghe turned into prints published by Graham Moon. These lithographs appeared in the original hand-painted deluxe edition. Suitable for framing, they reproduce details of the monuments and streets of nineteenth-century Cairo with an accuracy that today would be called photographic. This high-quality collection of prints celebrates the epic grandeur and fine detail of Roberts’ views, in a format that complements his extraordinary artistic achievements.

Paperback

First published October 15, 2010

About the author

David Roberts RA was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for a prolific series of detailed lithograph prints of Egypt and the Near East that he produced from sketches he made during long tours of the region (1838–1840). These and his large oil paintings of similar subjects made him a prominent Orientalist painter. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1841.

Reviews

[ProBookReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I’d be able to see what Egypt (or Cairo to be more specific) looked like from a primary source in the 1840s but here we are!

All the art in this collection is a very fascinating look at Cairo nearly two centuries ago. There’s a lot of detail in the 10 lithographs so we can see what people did, what they wore, how they got around, what the architecture - of regular buildings and mosques - looked like and what the streets and surrounding landscape/topography looked like.

I noticed that there were a lot of people that just sat down (on the ground) in groups around the city making the city seem laid-back and very social which was fortunately possible because there weren’t any cars to take up and ruin all the space. The streets also looked beautiful and dense with plenty of people and a few animals that were used to ride on, once again due to the fact that there weren’t any cars. The architecture looked very nice, especially the grand mosques with beautiful art and engravings on the inside walls and beautiful domes and structures on the outside (like nowadays too).

A truly surreal book as it literally allows you to see what the past looked like (and even what it felt like!) due to the beautiful details in the lithographs by David Roberts. It would be very interesting to see these paintings alongside the city of Cairo now.