The Dore Gallery : His 120 Greatest Illustrations

Rating:
Summary: A Masterful work from the Master
Review: Gustav Dore illustrated books and magazines in the 19th century, and these are a collection of his woodcuts from several different publications. The recreations are fantastic, from the Bible to Poe to Dante, Dore traverses grand stories of faith, humor, and fantasy all without missing a beat. It's amazing that these are glorious reproductions of handmade, woodcut images. Dore rarely made the woodcuts himself, but sometimes drew them directly to the wood it was to be cut from. Dore is brilliant, and a forgotten Master of book illustration. Many illustrations elicit a sense of Tolkien's works; though long before Tolkien.
Any of these could be easily removed from the volume, (though that would be sacreledge), and put into a frame to make a beautiful piece of art to hang on your wall. If you do commit this sacreledge, I recommend "The Empyrean" from Dante's "Divine Comedy" as a favorite.

Rating:
Summary: A great buy !
Review: This book is really great because it provides the reader with an extensive view of Dore's work. It displays more than a hundred high quality full-paged engravings for a very low price. I was utterly delighted when I found this book : I am French and though Gustave Dore is a French artist, it is at present impossible to find here such books as the Dore series published by Dover Publishers.