Description

1870 C. Gustave Dore Gallery Book Set W/250 Illustrated Engravings Each Book Estate Find. I searched every where to find another exactly like this one and could not. Gustave Dore was a prolific engraver, artist, illustrator, and sculptor, working primarily as a wood and steel engraver. He produced over 100,000 sketches in his lifetime, and lived to be 50 years old, averaging 6 sketches per day for each day he lived. By the time he died he had also earned over $2 million, living a life of affluence. Even though he was an untrained, self-taught artist, who never used a live model, and who could not sketch from nature, his work is considered some of the most important in the entire engraving art world. As a child, young Dore was an avid artist, and earned his way as an illustrator in a Paris bookshop, publishing his first drawings when he was 15 years old. His young age and great talent drew much attention, which led to newspaper and journal articles written about the “child illustrator,” and generated further interest in the artist. As an illustrator, Dore created engravings for the books of Balzac, Rabelais, Milton, Dante, Edgar Allen Poe, and Lord Byron. He was commissioned to illustrate a version of the English Bible, which was extremely popular, allowing for the foundation of his own gallery, the Dore Gallery. For his work on Dante’s Inferno, he was decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. Text by Edmund Ollier (including a memoir of Dore) 250 illustrations by Gustave Dore Leather binding Each original 1870 book is a collection of 250 full-page Doré wood engravings from 11 of his illustrated editions, including Dante, Milton, Cervantes, and the Bible. Contains a selection of the best of Doré s illustrations from the Bible, Milton s Paradise Lost, Dante s Inferno, Cervantes Don Quixote, La Fontaine s Fables and Baron Munchausen, among others The plate engravings are stunning. In good overall condition for age other than the spine was replaced at some point in time with black electrical tape The first few and last few pages show most wear and staining, with inside pages in good shape for age with minor foxing and stains Due to its age and with such huge books, I always consider these fragile and to be understandably handled with care especially when opening to read Set weighs approximately 22 pounds and measures approx 15.5 X 2 X 12 inches each book. FREE LOCAL PICKUP Selling As-Is PRODUCT LIABILITY DISCLAIMER : No warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, is made regarding the function, use of and/or safety of the product(s) sold. Buyer assumes all risk and liability resulting from purchase of above item(s) . Also check out my store for more Visit My eBay Store: Horse Cents and Pony Tales