Gustave Doré - part 19

 Our visual image of Victorian London is largely fixated on its sordidness—cramped streets, dark alleys, desolate slums, overcrowding, and illicit dens. Two people are responsible for creating in our heads such pictures of destitution and filth—one is Charles Dickens, whose works largely revolved around grinding poverty, and the other is French illustrator Gustave Doré. Doré (1832 – 1883) was a prolific engraver, artist, illustrator, and sculptor, who became very popular both in France and England by being an extremely successful illustrator for books and magazine.

He began his career early—at the age of fifteen—working for the French paper Le journal pour rire. Before he was twenty-five, his illustrations had adorned the books of several prominent writers of his time such as Cervantes, Rabelais, Balzac, Milton, Byron, and Dante. His illustrations of Cervantes's Don Quixote left such an indelible impression on the collective imagination of the public that it forever changed how subsequent artists, stage and film directors would represent the various characters in the book in their medium. Doré's illustrations for the English Bible in 1866 was such great success that it earned him a major exhibition of his work in London, eventually leading to the foundation of his very own Dore Gallery.

In 1869, Dore teamed up with journalist Blanchard Jerrold to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. For the next four years, Jerrold and Dore explored the dark underbelly of the largest, most fashionable, and most prosperous city in the world, visiting night refuges, staying in cheap lodging houses and making rounds of the opium den. The duo were often accompanied by plain-clothes policemen. They travelled up and down the river and attended fashionable events at Lambeth Palace, the boat race and the Derby.

This is part 19 of a 25-part series on later works of Gustave Doré: 

1876 Spain by Baron Ch. Davillier:

Front Cover

Titile Page

Beggars in the Cloister of the Cathedral of Barcelona.

A Burial at Barcelona.

Prison of the Inquisition at Barcelona.

An Accident.

Working men of Valencia.

Market Gardeners, Valencia.

Young Valencians.

The Picador Calderon.

Gipsy Family at Totana.

Forest of Palms at Elche.

A Street in Albacete.

Peasants in the Neighbourhood of Carcagente.

Fête of Alcoy.

Flamingo-Shooting on the Lake of Albufera.

The Torero's Narrative after a Bull-Fight.

A Bull clearing the Barrier.

A Banderillero in Danger.

The Catchetero.

A Gipsy's Toilet at Dieema.

Balconies at Granada.

A Family of Beggars at Granada.

Gate of the Torre de la Infanta.

The Vase of the Alhambra.

The Tower of Comares.

Patio de la Arrayanes (Court of Myrtles).

Gallery of the Patio de la Arrayanes.

Patio de Los Leones (Court of Lions).

Gate of the Sala de Justica.

The Generalife.

Banks of the Darro.

Tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella in the Cathedral of Granada.

The Grotto of the Gipsies at Sacro-Monte.

A Gipsy dancing the Zorongo

Dance of Gipsy Children at Sacro-Monte.

The Puerto de Arenas - Route from Granada to Jaen.

A  Relay at Jaen.

A Family of Mendicants.

Chabranes and Marineros in the Beach.

A Baratero exacting the Barato.

The young Toreros: A scene in Ronda.

Smugglers of the Serrania de Ronda.

The Rock of Gibraltar.

La Fabrica de Tabacos, Seville.

Puerta del Perdon, Seville Cathedral.

Moorish Arches of the Alcazar, Seville.

La Sala de Embajadores, Alcazar, Seville.

A Paso at Seville.

Penitents accompanying a Paso.

The Fandango at the Theatre San Fernando, Seville.

A Dancing Academy, Seville.

Gipsy dancing the Vito Sevillano.

Chapel of the Zancarron, Mosque of Cordova.

Defile of the Despeñaperros, in the Sierra Morena.

Arrival of the Diligence at the Inn, Santa Cruz de Mudela.

The Jars of La Mancha.

A Shepherd of Estremadura,

Interior of Toledo Cathedral.

The Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), Toledo.

Scene from the 'Tio Canivitas.'

Segovia: The Alcazar and Cathedral.

Native Cart and Chestnut Merchant.

The Poor de Solemnidad, Burgos.

Gorges of Pancorbo.

The Leaning Tower of Saragosa.

Market at Vitoria.

Basque Shepherd, Province of Alava.

Basque Dairymaid, San Sebastian.