An Unknown Collection of Preliminary Drawings and Extra Illustrations Prepared for The Arabian Antiquities of Spain by James Cavanah Murphy in the Gennadius Library, Athens

A previously unknown large-format volume containing preliminary drawings, original illustrations, and proofs of plates for James Cavanah Murphy's The Arabian Antiquities of Spain (1816) has been discovered in the Gennadius Library, Athens. The collection includes sketches of major Hispano-Islamic monuments such as the Alhambra, Generalife, and Great Mosque at Córdoba, alongside notes by Murphy to engravers and hand-tinted drawings, revealing his interest in polychromy. This finding enhances our understanding of the monuments depicted in the published plates and sheds light on Murphy's pioneering role in architectural scholarship, chromolithography, and early 19th-century book trade practices.

Mulvin, L. S. (2018). An Unknown Collection of Preliminary Drawings and Extra Illustrations Prepared for The Arabian Antiquities of Spain by James Cavanah Murphy in the Gennadius Library, Athens. Muqarnas Online, 35(1), 301–348. https://doi.org/10.1163/22118993_03501p014