Ollier E:  (DORE, Gustave). The Doré Gallery. London, Paris & New York: Cassell Petter & Galpin, [1870]. Two volumes. Folio (12 by 15 inches), Expertly rebound with contemporary three-quarter crimson morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines with 5 raised bands. Sporadic spotting throughout but not really effecting the plates. First edition of this impressive collection of 250 full-page Doré wood-engravings from 11 of his illustrated editions, including Dante, Milton, Cervantes, and the Bible. Contains a selection of the best of Doré’s illustrations from the Bible, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dante’s Inferno, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, La Fontaine’s Fables and Baron Munchausen, among others. The year 1866 is described in the history of British publishing as “the Doré year,” since this was when Cassell published four Doré-illustrated books and began issuing the Bible in parts, earning acclaim for “a vastly superior style of book-publishing, and in placing the works of Gustave Doré before the English public have taken very high rank as fine art publishers” (Henry Curwen). Cassell has included most of these works in this Gallery. With a life of Doré (who was only 38 at the time of publication), critical essay, and descriptive text to establish the context for each illustration by Edmund Ollier. “The ultimate Doré anthology” (Malan, 273).
Text and plates clean and fine. Minor color restoration to a few minor scuffs or bumps. Near-fine and quite handsome and desirable in contemporary morocco-gilt.