Doré was born in Strasbourg. His first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. As a young man, he began work as a literary illustrator in Paris. He was hired to illustrate scenes from books by Rabelais, Balzac, Milton and Dante.
In 1853, Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. British publishers asked him to do more work, including a new illustrated English Bible. Ten years later, he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote. His images of the knight and Sancho Panza have influenced later readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of how the two characters looked. Doré also illustrated an edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" with larger than usual pages. He was paid 30,000 francs by the publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.[1]
Doré's English Bible (1866) was a great success, and in 1867 Doré had a major exhibition of his work in London. The Doré Gallery in Covelant Bond Street opened after the show. In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold suggested that they work together to make a complete portrait of London. Jerrold got the idea from The Microcosm of London produced by Rudolph Ackermann, William Pyne, and Thomas Rowlandson in 1808. Doré signed a five-year contract with the publishers Grant & Co. He had to stay in London for three months each year. He was paid £10,000 a year for the project.
The completed book, London: A Pilgrimage, was published in 1872. It had 180 engravings. The book was successful financially and influenced many people. However, many critics at the time disliked it. Some of these critics wrote that Doré paid too much attention to the poverty in parts of London.
Doré made many works of art. This list is very long, but does not include every piece of art that Doré made. It does not include his sculptures and paintings. Also, many journal illustrations are not listed.
Date
Author
Work
Volumes / Format
Illustrations
Publisher
Ref
1854
Gustave Doré
Histoire pittoresque dramatique et caricaturale de la Sainte Russie, d'après les chroniqueurs et historiens Nestor Nikan Sylvestre Karamsin Ségur etc.
↑Eleanor Garvey, A Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Philip Hofer Bequest, 1988.
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 183. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.
↑ 5.05.15.2Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 207. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", pages 215. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt states that "In Doré's catalogue 'L'Inferno' figures amongst the works of 1857, and I shall therefore speak of it as belonging to that year's collection, although it was not brought out until 1860."
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", pages 63. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Gustave Doré, Edmond About, and H. Taine were more than contemporaries: they knew each other from college. Roosevelt quotes Doré, "...from that date [1847] until 1850, I occupied myself—sometimes well and sometimes badly—in finishing my studies at the Lycée Charlemagne. It was there that I was so fortunate as to have Edmond About and H. Taine for fellow-collegians."
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", pages 241. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt attributes authorship to "Malted": "'Les États Unis et la Mexique,' by Malted (sic) (Brun, Paris, 1862), 1 vol. in 4to." She is most likely referring to either Conrad Malte-Brun or his son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, both noted French Geographers.
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 242. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt implies, though does not specifically state, that a French publisher published this volume in 1865. For one, she places this reference with the other books published in 1865, for another, she uses the word also when mentioning that Sampson Low brought out a copy in London in 1866. Additionally, an English publication would most likely be translated and have a title of Toilers of the Sea. Roosevelt's line reads thus: "Victor Hugo's 'Travailleurs de la Mer,' also in 1866, brought out by Sampson Low and Co., in London."
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 242. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt states that the preface was written by Alex. Dumas fils
↑Although Blanche Roosevelt lists this book as being published in 1866, here Image:Le chemin des ecoliers title page.jpg is the title page of an edition published five years earlier, with Gustave Doré drawings. Roosevelt is most likely mistaken.
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 242. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt titles this book "The Song (sic) of the Ancient Mariner". The error possibly derives from reverse-translating the French title (Le Chanson du Vieux Marin) back into English.
↑Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 488. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.
Roosevelt, Blanche (1885). Life and Reminiscence of Gustave Doré. New York: Cassell & Co., Ltd.(141 illustrations)
Jerrold, Blanchard (1891). The Life of Gustave Doré. London: W. H. Allen & Co., Ltd.(138 illustrations)
Valmy-Baysse, J. (1930). Gustave Doré - L'Art et la Vie. Paris: Éditions Marcel Seheur.(314 illustrations)
Deze, Louis (1930). Gustave Doré - Bibliographie et catalogue complet de l'oeuvre. Paris: Éditions Marcel Seheur.(103 illustrations)
LeBlanc, Henri (1931). Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Gustave Doré. Paris: Ch. Bosse.(30 illustrations)
Farner, Konrad (1963). Gustave Doré der Industrialisierte Romantiker ((2V) ed.). Dresden: Verlag der Kunst.(521 illustrations, reprinting most of the Delorme photogravures)
Renonciat, Annie (1983). La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Doré. Paris: ACR Edition.(343 illustrations)
Malan, Dan (1995). Gustave Doré, Adrift on Dreams of Splendor. St. Louis: MCE Publishing Co.(500 illustrations)
Fantasy & Faith: the Art of Gustave Doré. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2007. (exhibition book: 250 illustrations, 40 in full-color, sometimes incorrectly listed as, “40 b/w, 120 color illustrations”)
"Bibliographie de la France", Journal Général de l’Imprimerie et de la Librairie, 1811 (annual listing of the books published in France)
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