23, [1], followed by 25 unpaginated engraved plates (Dore's 26's engraving appears on p. 17). Elephant folio: 18 1/2 x 14 5/8. Original grey cloth boards with beveled edges, all page edges gilt, black stamped titles. Front board decorated with an image of an angel with gilt-stamped wings. A variant exists which includes purple embellishments, mainly to the angel's face and body - these are not present here. Includes 27 engravings: 26 from illustrations by Gustave Dore, and a title vignette from an illustration by Elihu Vedder. This was Dore's last published work, released the year after his death. It was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom, also in elephant folio format, but with a somewhat less attractive cover. During his career, Dore established himself as among the most skilled artists working in the medium of wood, copper, and steel engravings, and produced illustrated editions of numerous important works of literature, including the Holy Bible, Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy, Don Quixote, and The Tempest. The original engravings were large format pieces, and thus many publications featuring Dore's works are elephant folios. Many reprints were (and still are) produced, though, often in smaller formats. These are characterized by loss of detail in the illustrations due to resizing of images, and the use of different printing methods. As such, imprints featuring the illustrations in their original incarnation are particularly sought after.
