The Works of Rabelais, Faithfully Translated, Illustrated by Gustave Dore

xx, 640 pp. Engravings by Gustave Dore. Black cloth gilt titles. "François Rabelais (c. 1494 – April 9, 1553) was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor and humanist. He was regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, dirty jokes and bawdy songs. Using the pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier (an anagram of François Rabelais minus the cedilla on the c), in 1532 he published his first book, Pantagruel, that would be the start of his Gargantua series. In this book, Rabelais sings the praises of the wines from his hometown of Chinon through vivid descriptions of the eat, drink and be merry lifestyle of the main character, the giant Pantagruel and his friends. Despite the great popularity of his book, both it and his prequel book on the life of Pantagruel's father Gargantua were condemned by the academics at the Sorbonne for their unorthodox ideas and by the Roman Catholic Church for its derision of certain religious practices. Rabelais's third book, published under his own name, was also banned."