In 1863 the Brothers Dalziel approached various artists, including Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Frederick Leighton, Frederick Sandys, George Frederick Watts and Simeon Solomon, to produce designs for an illustrated Bible. The Dalziels were motivated by their own evangelical faith but also the possibility of a very profitable venture. From the 1830s there had been an enormous surge in the publication of Bibles and 'by 1861 nearly four million Bibles were issued annually in Great Britain' (Donato Esposito, 'Dalziels' Bible Gallery (1881): Assyria and the Biblical Illustration in nineteenth-century Britain,' in Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible, ed. Steven W. Holloway, Sheffield, 2006, p. 270). In particular, the brothers wanted to rival Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld's highly successful Bilderbibel, or Bible Pictures, published first in Germany in 1851, and then in England in 1855. However, they were unable to get their version published by George Routledge and Son's until 1881. By this time the idea of an illustrated Bible had been dropped and it was compiled as a Bible Gallery aimed at the higher end of the market. The book did not sell well and became a commercial failure. In 1894 the book was republished by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This version included 27 addtional illustrations and text by Alex Fox to accompany each wood engraving.

Dalziels' Bible Gallery, containing illustrations from the old testament, engraved on wood by the Dalziel Brothers. From original drawings by various artists including Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Frederick Leighton, Frederick Sandys, George Frederick Watts and Simeon Solomon. Published by George Routledge & Sons, London, 1881. Though the book published in 1881, most of the designs date from the 1860s. This volume is No. 256 in an edition of 1000.

• Presented by Wilfred Phillips, 1920.
• © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery