Detailed plates from the Bible: the Creation scenes, Adam and Eve, horrifying visions of the Flood, the battle sequences with their monumental crowds, depictions of the life of Jesus, 241 plates in all.

"IN the midway of this our mortal life,I found me in a gloomy wood, astrayGone from the path direct: and e'en to tellIt were no easy task, how savage wildThat forest, how robust and rough its growth,Which to remember only, my dismay...

New edition of the excellent introduction to Gustave Doré's paintings, engravings and illustrations of the world's greatest literature, from The Bible to The Divine Comedy. An artist who worked across many media, the multi-skilled Gustave Doré remains unequalled as a supremely talented illustrator, whose detailed and imaginative engravings for major works of literature – from Cervantes’s Don Quixote to Dante’s Divine Comedy, and even the Bible – have hugely influenced the way we see many cultural and literary characters and still inspire today (David Beckham has a tattoo on his chest of Doré’s The Agony in the Garden). This sumptuous new introduction to the artist focuses on these illustrations, first introducing you to his life, work and the rich seam of illustration history that he continued and ignited, from Blake and Fuseli to today’s newspaper comics, before presenting a carefully curated thematic selection of his finest and most important engravings. From his vision of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel to Crossing the River Styx, the work of this most prodigious and much borrowed-from artist is represented in glorious full-page reproductions.

190 wood-engraved plates, 120 full-page: charging the windmill, traversing Spanish plains, valleys, mountains, ghostly visions of dragons, knights, flaming lake. Marvelous detail, minutiae, accurate costumes, architecture, enchantment, pathos, humor. Captions.

Scores of dramatic engravings include powerful images from Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Raven, The Wandering Jew, others. Captions.

These 135 fantastic scenes depict the passion and grandeur of Dante's masterpiece — from the depths of hell onto the mountain of purgatory and up to the empyrean realms of paradise.

All 100 original plates from 19th-century classic, including The Massacre of Antioch, The Road to Jerusalem, The Baptism of Infidels, The Battle of Lepanto, many more. Magnificent, royalty-free illustrations with captions.

All 50 of Doré's powerful illustrations for Milton's epic poem, recounting mankind's fall from the grace of God through the work of Satan. Appropriate quotes from the text are printed with each illustration.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.