On the Wings of Gustave Doré

French born artist "Paul" Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
 lived just 51 years on this earth, but his contribution to the art world is impossible to quantify.

Perhaps most known for his epic etchings, Doré was also 
an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and all-around prodigy.  
He began sculpting in cement at the age of 12, at 15 he was working as a caricature artist for a prominent French publication, and by his 21st year he had been commissioned to illustrate the works of Lord Byron.

Monsieur Doré would later win the right to illustrate books by Balzac, Dante, Poe, Rabelais, Milton, and even the bible. 

{ Doré's illustration for the cover of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'; 1883 } 
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Personally, I'm smitten.  No one captures the structure of a wing and a wave like Gustave!
His works are striking, emotional, intense and just plain incredible.
Enjoy!

{ 'Andromeda'; 1869 } 
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{ 'Jacob Wrestling with the Angel'; 1855 } 

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{ 'La Famille Du Saltimbanque L'Enfant Blesse' ("Family of Acrobats"); 1837 } 

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{ 'Two Owls'; 1879 } 

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tags: antique, art, biblical, dante, dore, engraving, etching, gustav, illustration, literature, lithograph, print, wings

My Bookhouse ... Children's Fairy Tales

Along a stretch of back road there is an old train car which has been converted into a now-deserted restaurant, and next door is a "this-n-that" shop, half filled with crafty goods, half filled with junk.

I was in this little trinket shop the other day, and found the shelves rather sparse; in fact several booth renters were packing up their inventory while my friend and I perused the left over wares.  It turned out to be their last week in business.  As I rounded a corner, an old man was shoveling books from their place on the shelves into a box.

A certain set caught my eye, and when he offered to give me "a hell of a deal", I decided to bite.

And I'm ever so glad I did.

So I'm now the proud owner of this six-volume set of antique children's books from The Bookhouse for Children; copyright 1925, edited by Olive Beaupré Miller.  The pages of these lovely books are filled with classic stories (many I've never read, as they have become obscure through the ages) and the loveliest color illustrations.

See if you can guess which stories the illustrations go to...

{ from 'The Snow Queen', by Hans Christian Andersen }

{ a scene from the Inferno, by Dante Alighieri... yes, in a children's book! }

The set includes:  

In the Nursery, Volume I

Up One Pair of Stairs, Volume II

Through Fairy Halls, Volume III

The Treasure Chest, Volume IV

From the Tower Window V

and, The Latch Key, Volume VI