Category Archives: Lithographs

Entitled to consideration and respect

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Iran, Judaism, Lithographs, Orientalism, Orientalist Art


Illustration of “Persian Jews” from the People’s Magazine, 1879

The current fighting in Gaza is a tragedy of Greek dramatic proportions. On the one hand a highly sophisticated military machine wielded at present with Hawkish intent, on the other a ragtag guerilla group bent on lobbing barbs at the Hawk’s fortified lair. And in the middle frightened civilians in a humanitarian nightmare of medieval mindset. The problem is that neither side is really willing to treat the other with consideration and respect. In this unethical tie, of course, the onus must be on the stronger to recognize the limited options of the weaker.

The tragedy does not end with the present loss of life, limb and hope for Gazans. Unfortunately, it overshadows a historical trajectory that created the rise of Zionism as a political ideal in Europe. There is no excuse for the present punishing policies of Israel towards the residents of Gaza. Indeed, it is all the sadder given the sordid history of anti-Semitism in both the Christian-dominated West and Islamic-dominated Near East. Recently I picked up an old magazine from 1879, published exactly 140 years ago. On one page I was struck by the extraordinary pathos of an image of “Persian Jews.” Continue reading Entitled to consideration and respect →

Lithographica Arabica 2: An Oriental Cafe

Coffee, Food and Drink, Lithographs, Orientalism


“An Oriental Café” from Bible Lands by Henry Van-Lennep, 1875, p. 779

For those who share the tactile thrill of fingers thumbing through brown-edged paper and caressing delicate bindings of century-plus-old books, I dedicate a new theme on Tabsir devoted to the art of lithographic representation of the Middle East. Lithographica Arabica — long live the line drawings and antiquated woodcuts of bibliophilic bliss.

The café (more properly kahweh) is a nearer approach to Western ideas, and deserves a passing notice, being an important institution of the East. Continue reading Lithographica Arabica 2: An Oriental Cafe →

David vs Goliath, the IDF vs Hamas

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Bible and Holy Land, Israel, Judaism, Lithographs, Palestine


Lithograph letter illustrating The Child’s Bible Illustrated from a 19th century serial publication.

When the once holy land of Biblical proportions is the issue on the front page of every newspaper, politics must make way for metaphor. The Israeli plan to bring down Hamas echoes with Samson bringing down the temple on the Philistines. Lots of Philistines were killed that memorable day, but only with a martyr’s mentality. Plug in “Gazans” or “Israelis” for “Philistines,’ and the martydom makes both scenarios equally mad. Moving forward in Biblical time, the Philistines did not disappear as a thorn in the side of Israel. Today, well beyond the world of the prophets, the jet fighters and tanks of the IDF have replaced David’s sling, but search as the military scanners may there is no Goliath in modern Gaza. Was Sophocles still writing for the stage, the ongoing Israel/Palestine tragedy would make Oedipus Rex look like Twelfth Night. How unbiblical a thought. Continue reading David vs Goliath, the IDF vs Hamas →

Picturing Bethlehem

Bible and Holy Land, Lithographs, Palestine

December eyes are fixed on Bethlehem, which has been an inspiration for artists over many years and indeed centuries. On this Christmas day, take a look at Bethlehem as it might have looked more than a century ago.


Left hand element of a stereoscopic photograph of the Bethlehem region circa 1900. Courtesy of Glenn Bowman.


Approaching Bethlehem. Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee.

The following two illustrations of Bethlehem can be found on the website (Jerusalem in 19th Century Art) put up by James E. Lancaster.


Bethlehem Tinted lithograph printed by Day & Son, after David Roberts, published about 1855.


Bethlehem Engraved by S.Brandard after a picture by W.H.Bartlett, published in The Christian in Palestine, about 1840. Steel engraved print with recent hand colour.

Lithographica Arabica 1

Lithographs, Orientalism


“A Street in Damascus” from Bible Lands by Henry Van-Lennep, 1875, p. 456

Watching vivid color, cable television on an HD screen obscures the art of old black and white movies, which were once able to conjure up fantasies in black, white and shades of gray. Glancing at glossy National Geographic photographs similarly buries further into the archived past all those simple lithographic line drawings storehoused in 19th century travel accounts, Orientalist writings and Bible Custom compendiums. I admire the fruits of progress, but the nostalgia for reaching back into the museum of my book-reading memories demands equal time.

For those who share the tactile thrill of fingers thumbing through brown-edged paper and caressing delicate bindings of century-plus-old books, I dedicate a new theme on Tabsir devoted to the art of lithographic representation of the Middle East. Lithographica Arabica — long live the line drawings and antiquated woodcuts of bibliophilic bliss. Continue reading Lithographica Arabica 1 →

With Ratzel in North Africa

Anthropology/Sociology, Lithographs, Morocco, Orientalism

One of the most important German geographers of the late 19th century was Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), whose three-volume Völkerkunde (Leipzig and Vienna, Bibliographisches Institut, 1890) is one of those encyclopedia cultural accounts that circulated just as the discipline of anthropology was getting off (in this case literally “on”) the ground. While now a text for curiosity rather than critical scholarship on peoples and cultures, Ratzel’s work is still a fascinating portrayal of cultures being colonized for both revealing the biases of the day and the then-contemporary illustrations of people and material culture. My university library recently divested itself of uncirculated books in storage and one of these was an 1890 edition of the third volume on “Die Kulturvölker der Alten und Neuen Welt.” Whether it was the eye-watering althochdeutsch script of the volume or the mere fact it was written in German, no student or professor at Hofstra ever checked this volume out.

In salvaging a third of Ratzel’s opus for a mere dollar, I could not help but be drawn to the illustrations, mostly lithographs but with a few beautiful color plates. Continue reading With Ratzel in North Africa →

Baghdad in the 80’s

Bible and Holy Land, Iraq, Lithographs, Orientalism

Baghdad in the 1880’s, in case you are curious.

As university libraries desperately look for space to hold old and rarely used volumes, many books fall by the wayside. My university holds an annual sale in which most of the books being discarded deserve to be. But then there are the occasional old and rare books that I cannot bear knowing will end up in a dumpster or landfill. One of these that I recently picked up for a dollar was Geographische Charakterbilder aus Asien. Aus den Originalberichten der Reisenden gesammelt von Dr. Berthold Volz mit 87 Illustrationen (Leipzig, Fues’s Verlag, 1887, 384 pages). The discursive Althochdeutsch aside, this text is a bit of print paradise for the lover of 19th century lithographs, all 87 of them. Continue reading Baghdad in the 80’s →