The 247 lithographs executed by Louis Haghe for The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia were based on a large collection of studies Roberts brought back from his journey to the area in 1839, and which were to be drawn upon for subsequent painted exhibition pieces and engraved views in the Annuals. The graphic sublime and architectural complexity made familar to the public in his studies of European cities, and Spanish buildings in particular, took on a wholly new exoticism, depicting landscapes largely unfamiliar to British travellerts which had nevertheless been a preoccupation in words alone.