From the Rothschild library: 102 extraordinary plates of the Mosque at Córdoba and the Alhambra complex

Murphy, James Cavanah. The Arabian Antiquities of Spain.

€ 25.000,00

First edition of this sumptuous work on Muslim Córdoba and Granada from the collection of Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), founder of the French branch of the Rothschilds.

The monumental volume is an impressive work on the art and architecture of Muslim Spain. It contains a total of 103 striking plates, including the additional plates usually found only in Bohn's reissue published ca. 1830. The first plates show the Mosque at Córdoba, followed by a view of the bridge of Córdoba, while the remainer of the work is devoted to the extraordinary complex of the Alhambra. It contains scenic as well as architectural views, several plans and details of the ornaments, inscriptions and other decorations.

As the introduction states, this work was published to "enable the reader to form an accurate estimate of the very high state of excellence to which the Spanish Arabs attained in the Fine Arts, while the rest of Europe was overwhelmed with ignorance and barbarism". It was completed posthumously from the drawings of the Irish architect James Cavanah Murphy (1760-1814), who visited the Alhambra and the Mosque at Córdoba in 1802. Some of the plates were based on engravings from the 1780 "Antigüedades árabes de España", although Murphy had clearly seen and redrawn their subjects.

Born in Frankfurt under the Holy Roman Empire, James de Rothschild initially moved to Paris to aid in his brother Nathan Mayer Rothschild's business there; shortly, he established himself and his family at the heart of France's industrial revolution, and charted a steady course through the upheavals of 19th century French politics. Elevated to the status of Baron, his interest in art was genuine, and his collection well-respected.