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    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King"
    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King"
    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King"
    Ebook92 pages54 minutes

    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King"

    By Gustave Doré

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    About this ebook

    Like his contemporary, the English poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Gustave Doré (1832–83) was highly regarded for his mastery of technique. One of the most prolific and successful book illustrators of the late nineteenth century, he provided a wealth of hauntingly beautiful illustrations for the first four parts of Idylls of the King, Tennyson's classic poetic treatment of the Arthurian legends. This volume contains meticulous reproductions of all 36 plates from rare English editions published in 1867–69.
    Like many of his other works, Doré's illustrations for the Idylls possess great drama, detail, and power, overlaid with a melancholy, otherworldly mood. His masterly technique is abundantly evident in splendid, idealized scenes illustrating the romantic involvements of four lovely ladies: "the fair Elaine," much enamored of Lancelot; Guinevere, Arthur's perfidious queen; Enid, the wife of Geraint, one of Arthur's knights; and the "wily Vivien," a scheming beauty who attempts to seduce the wizard Merlin.
    Accompanied by synopses and appropriate quotations from Tennyson's poem, Doré's illustrations bring these marvelous legends to vivid life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateOct 9, 2012
    ISBN9780486137964
    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King"
    Author

    Gustave Doré

    Paul Gustave Doré (January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.

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    • 5/5
      Gustave Dore was one of the most prolific book illustrators of the late nineteenth century. While this is a view into the great legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as seen through an ever tightening lens from The Mabinogion to Chretien De Troyes to Malory to Tennyson to Dore, it is not necessary to be familiar with any of the above to appreciate the greatness of not only the illustrations that make up the largest part of this book, but the conceptual structure of this book and the tales it illustrates. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the English poet laureate who wrote the Romantic epic poem called Idylls of the King gave us a luscious and emotional rendering of the King Arthur Saga and drew heavily upon older works of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, the Arthurian romances of Chretien De Troyes and the Welsh hero sagas of The Mabinogion. Here, his contemporary, Gustave Dore's (1832-1883) illustrations for Idylls focus on the romantic involvements of four lovely ladies from the pages of legend. This is a republication of all 36 plates from Enid, Elaine, Vivien and Guinevere published by Edward Moxon and Co., London, 1867-69. Gustave Dore first published these intricate and beautiful wood-engraved book illustrations for Idylls in the 1860s. Although many, many fabulous illustrations have been created for the legends of King Arthur and his Court over the years these remain among the finest. This book contains black and white plates, each 7 1/2" x 10" and thus nicely sized for optimal viewing of the exquisite detail. A corresponding excerpt from Idylls of the King is printed on the facing page of each plate, as well as a brief synopsis to place the illustration in context. Dore captured the grandeur and opulence of courtly life, the mystery and magic of the legendary times of Arthur and Merlin, the medieval costumes, furnishings and architecture, all with a brilliance and eye for detail that I find transporting. They are filled with drama and steeped in mood and atmosphere. Several illustrations each tell the stories of the fair Elaine, the Lily Maid of Astolat, whose ill-fated love of Lancelot ultimately cost her life, the tragic and disloyal Queen Guinevere, Enid, the wife of Sir Geraint of the Round Table, and the beautiful sorceress Vivien who beguiled the great wizard Merlin. This subject matter makes the original title seem more accurate than the current one that leads us to believe the illustrations might cover all of Idylls of the King which they do not. These works are filled with vistas as well as close-ups. They are set in the hoary forests, battle-fields and castle chambers of myth, peopled with kings, knights and ladies, magicians, sorceresses, peasants, ornately caparisoned chargers, hunting hounds, and even the denizens of the Land of the Fey. I love it for its evocative power, for the way it beckons me deeper into the shadowy rooms of the past and transforms me into a participant. I highly recommend it. On the back of this reasonably priced book the publishers have noted that the paper used is opaque with minimal show-through, that it will not discolor or become brittle with age, and that it is composed of bound signatures that will not drop out. Calling it a "permanent book", they say the binding will not crack or split. These are all impressive claims for a paperback book and ones to which I can, thus far, personally attest. The book opens flat for easy viewing and no parts of the plates are lost in the binding.

    Book preview

    Doré's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King" - Gustave Doré

    DOVER BOOKS ON FIVE ART

    BEARDSLEY’S LE MORTE DARTHUR: SELECTED ILLUSTRATIONS, Aubrey Beardsley. (0-486-41795-6)

    THE RAPE OF THE LOCK, Aubrey Beardsley and Alexander Pope. (0-486-21963-1)

    BLAKE’S AMERICA: A PROPHECY AND EUROPE: A PROPHECY FACSIMILE REPRODUCTIONS OF TWO ILLUMINATED BOOKS, WITH 35 PLATES IN FULL COLOR, William Blake. (0-486-24548-9)

    SONGS OF INNOCENCE, William Blake. (0-486-22764-2) THE ART OF BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION, Wilfrid Blunt. (Available in U.S. only.) (0-486-27265-6)

    GRAPHIC WORLDS OF PETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, Peter Bruegel. (0-486-21132-0) SELECTED FABLES OF JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, illustrated by Alexander Calder. (0-486-21878-3)

    A CÉZANNE SKETCHBOOK: FIGURES, PORTRAITS, LANDSCAPES AND STILL LIFES, Paul Cézanne. (0-486-24790-2)

    THE POSTERS OF JULES CHÉRET: 46 FULL-COLOR PLATES AND AN ILLUSTRATED CATALOG RAISONNÉ. SECOND, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, Jules Chéret and Lucy Broido. (0-486-26966-3)

    REGINALD MARSH’S NEW YORK/PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, Marilyn Cohen. (0-486-24594-2)

    ILLUSTRATIONS AND ORNAMENTATION FROM THE FAERIE QUEENE, Walter Crane. (0-486-40274-6)

    CONTEMPORARY POLISH POSTERS IN FULL COLOR, Joseph Czestochowski (ed.). (0-486-23780-X)

    LEONARDO’S ANATOMICAL DRAWINGS, Leonardo da Vinci. (0-486-43862-7)

    THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI. (Available in U.S. only.) (0-486-22572-0, 0-486-22573-9) 2-vol. set

    A TREATISE ON PAINTING, Leonardo da Vinci. (0-486-44155-5)

    DALÍ ON MODERN ART, Salvador Dalí. (0-486-29220-7)

    THE DORÉ ILLUSTRATIONS FOR DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY, Gustave Doré. (0-486-23231-X)

    DORÉ’S ILLUSTRATIONS FOR ARIOSTO’S ORLANDO FURIOSO, Gustave Doré. (0-486-23973-X)

    DORÉ’S ILLUSTRATIONS FOR IDYLLS OF THE KING, Gustave Doré. (0-486-28465-4)

    DORÉ’S SPAIN, Gustave Doré.(0-486-43417-6)

    THE COMPLETE ENGRAVINGS, ETCHINGS AND DRYPOINTS OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, Albrecht Dürer. (0-486-22851-7)

    THE ILLUMINATED BLAKE, David V. Erdman. (0-486-27234-6)

    ERTÉ’S FASHION DESIGNS, Erté. (0-486-24203-X)

    ERTÉ GRAPHICS, Erté. (0-486-23580-7)

    NEW ERTÉ GRAPHICS IN FULL COLOR, Erté. (0-486-24645-0)

    AMERICAN CIRCUS POSTERS IN FULL COLOR, Charles Philip Fox. (0-486-23693-5)

    NOA NOA: THE TAHITIAN JOURNAL, Paul Gauguin. (0-486-24859-3)

    (continued from front flap)

    THE GIBSON GIRL AND HER AMERICA, Charles Dana Gibson. (0-486-21986-0)

    THE DISASTERS OF WAR, Francisco Goya. (0-486-21872-4)

    MODERN MEXICAN PAINTERS, MacKinley Helm. (0-486-26028-3)

    ENGRAVINGS BY HOGARTH, William Hogarth. (0-486-22479-1)

    THE DANCE OF DEATH, Hans Holbein the Younger. (0-486-22804-5)

    100 GREAT ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILES IN FULL-COLOR PRINTS, Clarence P. Hornung.

    (0-486-26841-1)

    WILL BRADLEY: His GRAPHIC ART, Clarence P. Hornung (ed.). (0-486-20701-3)

    THE GRAMMAR OF ORNAMENT, Owen Jones. (0-486-25463-1)

    100 DRAWINGS, Gustav Klimt. (0-486-22446-5)

    PRINTS AND DRAWINGS OF KÄTHE KOLLWITZ, Käthe Kollwitz. (0-486-22177-6)

    GREAT BALLET PRINTS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA, Parmenia Migel. (0-486-24050-9)

    ORNAMENTATION AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE KELMSCOTT CHAUCER, William

    Morris. (0-486-22970-X)

    MUCHA’S FIGURES DECORATIVES, Alphonse Mucha. (0-486-24234-X)

    THOMAS NAST’S CHRISTMAS DRAWINGS, Thomas Nast. (0-486-23660-9)

    IDEALS OF THE EAST, Kakuzo Okakura. (0-486-44024-9)

    THE RENAISSANCE: STUDIES IN ART AND POETRY, Walter Pater. (0-486-44025-7)

    PENNELL’S NEW YORK ETCHINGS: 90 PRINTS, Joseph Pennell. (0-486-23913-6)

    ROBERT HENRI: HIS LIFE AND ART, Bennard Perlman. (0-486-26722-9)

    PAINTERS OF THE ASHCAN SCHOOL: THE IMMORTAL EIGHT, Bennard B. Perlman.

    (0-486-25747-9)

    JAPANESE NO MASKS: WITH 300 ILLUSTSRATIONS OF AUTHENTIC HISTORICAL EXAMPLES, Friedrich Perzynski. (0-486-44014-1)

    THE PRISONS, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. (0-486-21540-7)

    WASHINGTON IRVING’S RIP VAN WINKLE, Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. (0-486-44242-X)

    THE COMPLETE ETCHINGS OF REMBRANDT, REPRODUCED IN ORIGINAL SIZE, Rembrandt van Rijn. (0-486-28181-7)

    FREDERIC

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