Wonderful 19th century illustrations for the 14th century poem. Captures the zeitgeist, if not the detail, of Dante perfectly. ( )

THE DORE ILLUSTRATIONS FOR DANTE'S DIVINE COMEDY

THE DORÉ ILLUSTRATIONS FOR
DANTE'S DIVINE COMEDY
136 PLATES BY GUSTAVE DORE

Gustave Doré (1832-1883) was perhaps the most successful illustrator of the
nineteenth century. His Doré Bible was a treasured possession in numerous homes,
and his best-received works continued to appear through the years in edition
after edition. His illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy comprise one of his
most highly regarded efforts and were Doré's personal favorites.

The present volume reproduces with excellent clarity all 135 plates that Doré
produced for The Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. From the depths of hell onto
the mountain of purgatory and up to the empyrean realms of paradise, Doré's
illustrations depict the passion and grandeur of Dante's masterpiece in such
famous scenes as the embarkation of the souls to hell, Paolo and Francesca (4
plates), the forest of suicides, Thaïs the harlot, Bertram de Born holding his
severed head aloft, Ugolino (4 plates), the emergence of Dante and Virgil from
hell, the ascent up the mountain, the flight of the eagle, Arachne, the lustful
sinners being purged in the seventh circle, the appearance of Beatrice, the planet
Mercury and the first splendors of paradise, Christ on the Cross, the stairway
of Saturn, the final vision of the Queen of heaven, and many more.

Each plate is accompanied by appropriate lines from the Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow translation of Dante's work.

Original Dover (1976) publication. 136 illustrations. New publisher's note. List
of plates. vii + 135pp. 9 x 12.
Paperbound

A DOVER EDITION DESIGNED FOR YEARS OF USE
We have made every effort to make this the best book possible. Our paper is
opaque, with minimal show-through; it will not discolor or become brittle with age.
Pages are bound in signatures, in the method traditionally used for the best books
and will not drop out. Books open flat for easy reference. The binding will not crack
or split. This is a permanent book

A fantastic reference work for Dore's superb engravings for Dante. To my mind, Dore is the artist who captured the feel of Dante's poem most accurately, and it's great to have all his work for the Divine Comedy collected together. The only criticism is that unfortunately computer-printed engravings can never have the same richness that they do in the original! ( )

As ever, Dover performed a praiseworthy service to the reading community with this freestanding edition of the masterful Dore illustrations to the Divine Comedy for those who don't want to find the rather cumbersome, allergen-rich, and pricey editions where they originally appeared. The illustrations are a fine match for the poem's severity. Audiences in general seem to be most interested in the Inferno, and indeed those illustrations have the most immediate visual and emotional impact, but the etchings for the much more abstract Paradiso were surely more difficult to conceive and execute. The excerpts from the lines of the poem which are attached are sufficient to understand the illustration, though they obviously don't fully substitute for the full context. ( )

These are the images many people think of, when they think of the Inferno.

This is both a good thing - in that they are, of course, wonderful - and a bad - because they are not always particularly faithful to the text. The final image, for instance, bears very little resemblence to the text at all...

Having said that, it is a wonderful book.