"His Don Quixote … from its first to its last page [is] a marvel of imagination, poetry, sentiment, and sarcasm. . . . People still speak of it only as 'Doré's Don Quixote'." — Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré
Doré himself had something of Quixote's chivalry and spent an arduous life drafting impossible dreams; he knew fame as well as pain, disillusionment, and failure. At age 30 he was ready for Quixote and prepared to realize his dream of illustrating the world's great books.
Doré never became the painter he yearned to be, but he came very close to realizing his desired intimacy with the classics. His sympathy with Cervantes' satire was so close that, of the numerous Quixote interpretations by many outstanding artists, Doré's has become the standard. The French translation of Cervantes that Doré illustrated is forgotten; here is the memorable remnant of that work — all 120 full-page plates, plus a selection of 70 characteristic headpiece and tailpiece vignettes.
As can be seen in the backgrounds, Doré was ready professionally as well as emotionally for Quixote. He had traveled through Spain preparing an earlier work, and his graphic memory was as strong and indelible as that of another great Quixote interpreter, Picasso. From Sancho's village through Spanish hills and dry plateaus, in the Pyrenees and by the sea, in rural castles and Barcelona luxury, Doré illuminated the seventeenth-century setting with a nineteenth-century acquaintance with the scene. Doré was also a careful student of Renaissance costume and architecture; his minutiae, so copious, are invariably correct.
Captions written especially for this edition describe the action with reference to the original Spanish text, capturing high points of the story. But of course Doré conveys it all in a picture: the famous windmill charge, traversing the Sierra Morena, battling the Knight of the White Moon, visions of giants, dragons, flaming lakes, and damsels, the Dulcinea never found, all in full-page wood engravings. Doré's marvelous penchant for ghostly effects in panoramic landscapes and seascapes finds large scope here, carefully engraved by one of the best of his longtime studio engravers, H. Pisano.
Doré's Man of la Mancha glows with the artist's own enchantment and humor. Artists and illustration aficionados will add this royalty-free volume to other Dover editions of Doré's works — art he created to stand with great literature that now stands alone. Doré's Quixote indeed stands alone, unique among the knights and graphic castles in Spain.

Reader Reviews

E. G.

(5/5)

Dec 18, 2024

Introduction--Doré's Illustrations for Don QuixoteAuthor Biographies

Dave

(4/5)

Good illustrations with explanation.

Fionnuala

Gustave Doré was born on the sixth of January, 1832 at no 16, rue de la Nuée-Bleue, Strasbourg, Alsace.Doré was one of those children who are never happier than when drawing on any surface in sight so his artistic talent was spotted early. By the age of fifteen, and while still at school, he was already working as an illustrator for the satirical newspaper Journal pour Rire.Over the next few years, he drew more than one thousand cartoons for the newspaper and honed his skill for caricature. Late...

Ashley Adams

A collection of 190 of Gustave Doré's illustrations for Don Quixote published by the time he was thirty-one. Absolutely mind-blowing! While the detail and craftmanship are stunning, I was surprised to find a shift in my sense of the narrative tone.In the first few images, I contemplated Doré's technique with light and dark. I remembered how the novel often depicted things happening at night that were monumental. How do night/obscurity relate to Don Quixote's sense of reality? And, of course, whe...

Mario Cruz

Este libro no es para leer el Quijote sino para disfrutar de los prodigiosos grabados del artista francés Paul Gustave Doré.Estas ilustraciones en algún momento decoraron las paredes del restaurante de emparedados "Sancho Panza" en el centro comercial Perisur de la Ciudad de México.En ese lugar fue donde descubrí las ilustraciones de Doré.El libro es una joya deliciosa para cualquier aficionado a Don Quijote o a los grabados.

Jdamaskinos

Exquisite!!! Gives life to Cervante’s text and is a very nice companion to the first modern Western novel.

Larissa

Doré's drawings, as usual, are a spectacular understanding of line and black and white contrast. I have yet to read Don Quijote but this book gives one a bit of an overview through the illustrations and captions. This is not a book to read as there is only a brief introduction followed by many illustrations engraved in woodblock.

Kalliope

With the name of Gustave Doré (1832-1883), the illustrations of Dante, of Ariosto and of Cervantes come first to mind. He also carried out others now less well known, such as Paradise Lost, the Bible and Rabelais. Doré had embarked at an early age, in his twenties, to illustrate the great books of Western culture.But while with other works we can also think of other major illustrators who vie with Doré for stamping on our minds the visual equivalent to text-- for we also have, in the case of Dan...

morgan

good reproductions.

Steve

Gustave Dore's illustrations were created for an 1863 French translation of the Cervante's classic. Dore's quickly became the definitive drawings for Don Quixote. A splendid companion piece to Cervante's most famous work.

Jenaro

A must have!!!!

Jedkimball

Amazing images and insightful attention to detail

Wetdryvac Wetdryvac

Working largely with the illustrations, a most excellent experience.

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Doré's Illustrations for Don Quixote

Doré's Illustrations for Don Quixote

Doré's Illustrations for Don Quixote

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