Gustave Dore

Gustave Dore illustrations in leather bound books
Gustave(Paul)Dore,(1833-83), was a French illustrator and painter, born in Strasbourg. Gustave Dore was a precocious artist; at the age of fifteen he was regularly employed as an illustrator for the periodical Journal pour Rire. Gustave Dore is best known for his book illustrations, which are characterized by dramatic action against weird and gloomy backgrounds; the drawing, due to its insufficient training, is often faulty. The book illustrations of Gustave Dore has developed a strong following as can be seen with other book illustrators such as George Cruickshank. Among the books which Gustave Dore illustrated were editions of the works of Rabelais (1854), Balzac’s Contes Drolatiques (1856), Dante’s Inferno (1861), Cervantes, Don Quixote (1863), La Fontaine's Fables (1866), John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1866), Arista’s Orlando Furioso (1880), and Poe’s Raven (1883). Among his paintings are "Battle of the Alma" (1855), "Paolo et Francesca da Rimini' (1863), and "Neophyte" (1868).

A number of leather bound books have been published with illustrations from Gustave Dore. Some of the most notable modern leather bound books are the Franklin Library's Paradise Lost by John Milton and Don Quixote and the two voluume edition of Gargantua & Pantagruel published as part of the 25th Anniversary edition of the Great Books of the Western World.