DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4641#0005
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NOTICE OF MR. ROBERTS'S JOURNEY IN THE EAST.
To visit the Holy Land, and make drawings of the scenes of sacred history and the antiquities of
Egypt, had been, long before this journey was undertaken by Mr. Roberts, the brightest of his anticipations
as an artist. He had already acquired so high a reputation for his skill and judgment in the treatment
of architectural subjects, that the service of his pencil was sought, to make us acquainted with the
structures of the Moors in Spain, and to make drawings from, and adapt for the use of the engraver,
many of the sketches furnished by travellers in Palestine, of the buildings and objects of interest
published in the "Illustrations of the Bible:" these studies, and his journey to Spain and Morocco for
his Spanish scenery, excited in him an irrepressible desire to visit the East. The drawings of the French
Commission in Egypt had been declared very incorrect, and De Laborde's Petra was charged also with
inaccuracy. To go and draw for himself scenes and objects of such intense interest could alone satisfy
him ; the result has been his richly-stored portfolios, from which the subjects for this work have been selected.
Having made himself thoroughly acquainted with all matters requisite for the journey, and such
works as were published on the countries and objects he was about to visit, and having prepared himself
ith letters and introductions, especially from the Foreign Office to Colonel Campbell, our Consul-Genera!
, Egypt and Syria, he left London August 31st, 1838, and reached Alexandria on the 24th of September
following. Every facility was kindly and readily given by Colonel Campbell for the accomplishment of
our Artist's objects. The Nile was at its height, and therefore visited at the most advantageous time. He
ascended to Cairo, with introductions from Colonel Campbell, and there, by the aid of those to whom he
had been recommended, Mr. Roberts was furnished with a guard to accompany him everywhere, and
protect him from interruption or insult whilst sketching: he even obtained permission to enter every
mosque he desired to visit, a privilege never before given to a Christian, but to which one condition
was attached—that in the instruments he used in making his studies, for he was allowed to paint there,
he was not to desecrate the mosque by the introduction and use of brushes made of hog's bristles.
From Cairo Mr. Roberts, with an Arab servant, ascended the Nile in a boat commanded by a captain
with a crew of eight men, provisioned for three months. He was entirely master of the party, and carried the
British flag at the mast-head. He thus ascended to the second cataract, Wady Haifa, and before he returned
to Cairo, had made drawings of almost every edifice from the extremity of Nubia to the Mediterranean.
While at Cairo, he made the acquaintance of M. Linant, who had been De Laborde's companion
in his visit to Petra; he kindly showed Mr. Roberts the original sketches which had been made in
that excursion, and thus added stimulants, which were unnecessary, to his undertaking the interesting
journey to Wady Moosa, or Petra. He immediately made preparations for crossing the Desert by the
route of the Israelites to Mount Sinai —by Akaba, and through the great valley of El Ghor to Petra,
and thence to Hebron, instead of entering Palestine by El Arish and Gaza, as he had intended.
On the 8th of February, 1839, having been joined by Mr. Pell and Mr. Kinnear, (the latter of -
in
NOTICE OF MR. ROBERTS'S JOURNEY IN THE EAST.
To visit the Holy Land, and make drawings of the scenes of sacred history and the antiquities of
Egypt, had been, long before this journey was undertaken by Mr. Roberts, the brightest of his anticipations
as an artist. He had already acquired so high a reputation for his skill and judgment in the treatment
of architectural subjects, that the service of his pencil was sought, to make us acquainted with the
structures of the Moors in Spain, and to make drawings from, and adapt for the use of the engraver,
many of the sketches furnished by travellers in Palestine, of the buildings and objects of interest
published in the "Illustrations of the Bible:" these studies, and his journey to Spain and Morocco for
his Spanish scenery, excited in him an irrepressible desire to visit the East. The drawings of the French
Commission in Egypt had been declared very incorrect, and De Laborde's Petra was charged also with
inaccuracy. To go and draw for himself scenes and objects of such intense interest could alone satisfy
him ; the result has been his richly-stored portfolios, from which the subjects for this work have been selected.
Having made himself thoroughly acquainted with all matters requisite for the journey, and such
works as were published on the countries and objects he was about to visit, and having prepared himself
ith letters and introductions, especially from the Foreign Office to Colonel Campbell, our Consul-Genera!
, Egypt and Syria, he left London August 31st, 1838, and reached Alexandria on the 24th of September
following. Every facility was kindly and readily given by Colonel Campbell for the accomplishment of
our Artist's objects. The Nile was at its height, and therefore visited at the most advantageous time. He
ascended to Cairo, with introductions from Colonel Campbell, and there, by the aid of those to whom he
had been recommended, Mr. Roberts was furnished with a guard to accompany him everywhere, and
protect him from interruption or insult whilst sketching: he even obtained permission to enter every
mosque he desired to visit, a privilege never before given to a Christian, but to which one condition
was attached—that in the instruments he used in making his studies, for he was allowed to paint there,
he was not to desecrate the mosque by the introduction and use of brushes made of hog's bristles.
From Cairo Mr. Roberts, with an Arab servant, ascended the Nile in a boat commanded by a captain
with a crew of eight men, provisioned for three months. He was entirely master of the party, and carried the
British flag at the mast-head. He thus ascended to the second cataract, Wady Haifa, and before he returned
to Cairo, had made drawings of almost every edifice from the extremity of Nubia to the Mediterranean.
While at Cairo, he made the acquaintance of M. Linant, who had been De Laborde's companion
in his visit to Petra; he kindly showed Mr. Roberts the original sketches which had been made in
that excursion, and thus added stimulants, which were unnecessary, to his undertaking the interesting
journey to Wady Moosa, or Petra. He immediately made preparations for crossing the Desert by the
route of the Israelites to Mount Sinai —by Akaba, and through the great valley of El Ghor to Petra,
and thence to Hebron, instead of entering Palestine by El Arish and Gaza, as he had intended.
On the 8th of February, 1839, having been joined by Mr. Pell and Mr. Kinnear, (the latter of -