The Chancel of the Church of St Helena (above) was among the paintings found by volunteers at Yorkshire Museum. © York Museums Trust

The Curator of Archaeology at Yorkshire Museum has hailed a “truly fantastic find” after a book containing the first detailed colour pictures of ancient holy lands was found in the museum’s library.

A complete version of The Holy Land by David Roberts, an extremely rare first edition which was owned by the likes of Queen Victoria and the Tsar of Russia, was chanced upon by volunteers cataloguing the building’s vast library.

The Shrine of Nativity is one of around 240 paintings by Roberts. © York Museums Trust

“It is great that it has been unearthed so close to Christmas,” said Andrew Morrison, who described the find as “a great asset” for the library. “Complete copies of the first edition are extremely rare because so few were published, and also because many were taken apart so that the prints could be sold separately.”

Roberts made a self-financed journey to Bethlehem, which paid off when dignitaries including the Queen bought his book. © York Museums Trust

The large books include hand-coloured lithographs of places throughout the Holy Land in 1838-39, taken by the pioneering photo journalist around sites including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the ancient city of Jerusalem.

Roberts was one of the world's first photo journalists. © York Museums Trust

“His incredibly detailed paintings of the Middle East gave British society a fabulous insight into the everyday life of people in a world completely different from theirs,” added Morrison.

Around 240 paintings feature in the 1842 collection, reproduced on a large scale in colour and transferred by renowned lithographer Louis Haghe.

Curator Andrew Morrison described the discovery as "fantastic". © York Museums Trust

For the 1842 first edition Roberts insisted on reproducing the works on a large scale and in colour. Louis Haghe, now regarded as one of the finest lithographers in history, created the illustrations based on Robert’s paintings, and only the very rich were able to afford the book at the time.

The books are not included in the last catalogue of the Library, printed in 1900, and the museum is hoping to track down where the books came from by studying the 14,000-strong handwritten list of accessions.