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Gustave Doré Collection

 

The genius of Gustave Doré is one of the marvels of 19th Century art.

 

The range of Pagan and Christian imagery exhibited through his work belies a colossal imagination and a magnificent

apprehension of all possible conditions of human experience. His lofty insight into the mysteries of Spiritual existence as

reflected from Earthly actualities entitle him to be classed among the great creative geniuses of all time.

 

When the viewer considers any of his illustrations - including those accompanying Michaud's History of the Crusades, Dante's

Inferno and Purgatory and Paradise, and Milton's Paradise Lost - the exquisite use of light and shade, rhythmic movement

and dramatic composition is unmistakeable. In one word, his work is sublime.

 

It has been claimed that no artist has ever been more familiar with the subtleties of colour that form the gamut of tones

and semitones between black and white, nor handled them with greater skill and delicacy. In some ways, it is as though

human nature has been thoroughly imbued with the allegorical - as well as the artistic - significance of nature's great

resolvent: tone.

 

Doré's art appeals to the heart, the intellect, the love of humanity and the inspiration of the human Soul towards grand

ideas. It is art that outlasts change, fashion, death and decay.

 

In his lighter works, as in those that are more serious, Doré shows in even the smallest details of creation the universality

of genius. His art illustrates famous allegory on a colossal scale - to delight young and old.

 

One can form the impression that something supernatural and unearthly, something that belongs to the realm of the unseen

has been revealed through the genius of Doré. To the lovers of his drawing, Doré presents a splendid phantasmagoria of

shapes that never were on sea or land and yet are intensely real, warm and vital. In doing so, he is sympathetic to Nature

in all her phases, adding an intuitive and instinctive grasp of the Soul of cosmic forces.

 

We have developed a range of Giftware that includes images reproduced from the 1st Edition plates in our collection to

ensure the most accurate form, line and colour possible. We have utilised a high definition capture and reproduction

technique for the images - in contrast to the low definition representation necessary for this website. The illustrations are

available as cards, infants' clothing, T-shirts and unmatted, matted or framed prints (8x6", 10x8", 12x10", 15x10" and

30 x 20" images sizes). Pricing starts at US$4 for single Gift Cards (US$18 for select packs of 6) and 10 x 8" prints

(double-matted and framed) begin at US$60. Further details on those reproduction images are available at the

Giftware section of this site.

 

Should you wish to discuss an order, please contact us at ThePeople@SpiritoftheAges.com referencing your request

with the Stock Code of the plate, or plates in question and a brief description (and rest assured, we do accept payment

through PayPal or Direct Bank Deposit).

 

In the meantime, enjoy browsing our selection of genuine vintage and antique plates.

 


 

Michaud's History of the Crusades (1880s)

A rare copy of Michaud's  History of the Crusades - illustrated by Doré and published by George Barrie, Publisher (Philadelphia) in two volumes in the 1880s.

 

This copy shows the original decoratively stamped and gilt leather cover.

 

 

 

History of the Crusades is the work of the French poet, satirist, historian, publisher, journalist and conversationalist,

Joseph François Michaud (1767-1839). Michaud was born to a distinguished family and remained aligned with the

Bourbon cause at a time in French history when the Revolution and Napoleon's subsequent 'adventures' created some

difficulties for those who continued to remain loyal to that tradition. Despite those difficulties, however, his productivity

was significant and - among other appointments - he was a Member of the Academy of France.

 

Michaud's History of the Crusades includes books titled: "Birth of the Crusades"; "Departure and March of the Crusaders";

"The March to, and Siege of Antioch"; "The Siege of Jerusalem"; "History of the Kingdom of Jerusalem"; "The Second Crusade";

"The Third Crusade"; "Saladin"; "The Fourth Crusade"; "The Fifth Crusade"; "From the Restoration of Isaac to the Death of

Baldwin"; "The Sixth Crusade"; "The Seventh Crusade"; "Damietta and Louis IX"; "Eighth Crusade"; "Attempted Crusades -

Crusades against the Turks"; "Crusades against the Turks" ; and "Upon the State of Europe". Chronologically, Michaud deals

with relevant developments between 300AD and 1685.

 

The illustration by Doré are engraved by artisans including Bellenger, Doms, Gusman, Jonnard, Pannemaker,

Pisan and Quesnel. 

 

100 images

 

Book I

Birth of the Crusades

AD 300-1095

Hospitality of Barbarians to Pilgrims

 

When the world was ravaged by the Goths, the Huns and the

Vandals, the pilgrimages to the Holy Land were not at all

interrupted. Pious travellers were protected by the hospitable

virtues of the barbarians, who began to respect the cross of

Christ, and sometimes even followed the pilgrims to Jerusalem.

In these times of trouble and desolation a poor pilgrim, who

bore his scrip and staff, often passed through fields of carnage,

and travelled without fear amidst armies which threatened the

empires of the East and West

 

Book I

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 18.7 x 24cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

 

Code: GD HC 1

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Foulque-Nerra assailed by the Phantoms of his Victims

 

Foulque-Nerra, Count of Anjou, charged with crimes, and

stained with blood, thought to efface all his cruelties by a

voyage to Jerusalem. His brother, whom he had caused to

perish in a dungeon, presented himself, wherever he went,

before his eyes; it appeared to him that the numerous

victims sacrificed to his ambition in unjust war issued from

their tombs to disturb his sleep, and reproach him for his

barbarity

 

Book I

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.8 x 24.7cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

 

Code: GD HC 2

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Peter the Hermit preaching the Crusade

 

The singularity of his appearance was a spectacle for the

people, whilst the austerity of his manner, his charity, and

the moral doctrines that he preached, caused him to be

revered as a saint ... They who touched his vestments

themselves happy, and a portion of hair pulled from the

mule he rode was preserved as a holy relic. At the sound

of his voice differences in families were reconciled, the poor

were comforted, the debauched blushed at their errors

 

Book I

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.8 x 24.7cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 3

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The War Cry of the Crusaders

 

As soon as the spring appeared nothing could restrain the

impatience of the Crusaders, and they set forward ... The crowd

presented a whimsical and confused mixture of all ranks and all

conditions; women appeared in arms in the midst of warriors,

prostitution not being forgotten in the austerities of penitence;

old age was to be seen with infancy, opulence next to misery;

the helmet was confounded with the frock, the mitre with the

sword ... On all parts resounded the war cry of the Crusaders -

"It is the will of God! It is the will of God!"

 

Book I

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 18.8 x 24.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

 

Code: GD HC 4

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Book II

Departure and March of the Crusaders

AD 1096-1097

Walter the Penniless in Hungary

 

When the vanguard entered Hungary, they were only disturbed

in their march but by a few insults, which Walter had the

prudence not to avenge; but the resignation of the pilgrims

could not hold out long against the misery which every day

increased. Want and its attendant evils soon dispersed all the

sentiments of moderation to which religion had for a moment

given birth in the hearts of its defenders. The governor of

Bulgaria not having been able to furnish provisions, they spread

themselves about over the country, carried off the flocks, burnt

the houses, and massacred several of the inhabitants who

opposed their violence. The irritated Bulgarians ran to arms,

and fell upon the soldiers of Walter, loaded with their booty

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.8 x 24.7cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

 

Code: GD HC 5

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The Army of Priest Volkmar and

Count Emicio attack Mersbourg

 

Mersbourg shut its gates upon them, and refused them

provisions. They were indignant that so little respect should

be shown to the soldiers of Christ, and deemed it their duty to

treat the Hungarians as they had treated the Jews. Mersbourg,

situated on the Leytha, a river which flows into the Danube,

was defended by marshes. The Crusaders crossed the river, cut

down a forest, and formed a causeway, which conducted them

close under the walls of the place. After some preparation the

signal was given, the ladders were raised against the ramparts,

and the general assault was begun. The besieged opposed a

spirited resistance, and showered upon their enemies a tempest

of darts and arrows, with torrents of boiling oil. The besiegers,

encouraging each other, redoubled their efforts. Victory appeared

to be about to declare for them, when suddenly several ladders

yielded to the weight of the assailants, and dragged down with

them in their fall the parapets and the fragments of the towers

that the ram had shaken. The cries of the wounded and the

rattling of the falling ruin spread a panic among the Crusaders

 

Book II

 

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 18.8 x 23.8cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 6

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The Second Crusaders encounter the

remains of the First Crusaders

 

Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless crossed the

Bosphorus with an army which might amount to about a

hundred thousand combatants ... After a march of some hours,

in a country which was unknown to them, the Christians were

unexpectedly attacked by the Turks, whom they believed to be

in flight. They formed in haste, and at first defended themselves

valiantly. But the enemy had the advantage of position and

numbers, and they were soon surrounded on all sides and

completely routed. The carnage was horrible; Walter, who was

worthy of commanding better soldiers, fell pierced with arrows.

With the exception of three thousand men, who took refuge

in a castle close to the sea, the whole army perished in a single

battle, and there soon remained no more of them than a

confused heap of bones, piled up in the plains of Nicea, as a

deplorable monument to point out to other Crusaders the road

to the Holy Land

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.9 x 24.4cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 7

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Celestial Phenomena

 

In a superstitious age the sight of a prodigy or of an

extraordinary phenomenon had more influence over the minds

of men that the oracles of wisdom or reason. Historians inform

us that whilst the barons were assembled, the moon, which was

in eclipse, appeared of the colour of blood. When the eclipse

was over, its disc was surrounded by an unprecedented

splendour. Some weeks after, says the Abbé Guibert, the

northern horizon was seen to be all on fire, and the terrified

people rushed from the houses and cities, believing that the

enemy was advancing, fir and sword in hand. At another

time the stars assembled in the form of a cross and a wreath

of thorns, and appeared to rise in the sky in conjunction with

the moon. These phenomenon, with several others, were

regarded as signs of the will of God, and the presages of the

terrible war about to be made in his name. They everywhere

redoubled the enthusiasm of the Crusade. Men who had

hitherto remained indifferent new partook of the general

delirium. All Frenchmen called to the profession of arms, and

who had not yet taken the oath to fight against the infidels,

hastened now to take the cross

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 18.7 x 23.9cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 8

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Astonishment of the Crusaders at the

wealth of the East

 

At the sight of an apartment filled with riches, Bohémond,

prince of Tarentum, said: "There is enough to conquer

kingdoms with." The Emperor Alexius; who wished to bribe

him, immediately ordered them to be conveyed to the tent

of the ambitious Bohémond, who at first refused them with a

kind of modesty, and finished by accepting them with joy ...

An abode at Byzantium might become otherwise dangerous

for the Crusaders; the spectacle of the luxury of the East, which

they beheld for the first time, was calculated to corrupt them.

The Christian knights were never weary of admiring the palaces,

the splendid edifices, the riches, and perhaps the beautiful

women of whom Alexius had spoken in his letters addressed

to the princes of the West

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.6 x 24.4cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 9

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Godfrey meets the remains of the Army

of Peter the Hermit

 

As the Crusaders advanced across the plains of Bithynia, they saw,

seeking refuge in their tents, several soldiers of Peter's army,

who, having escaped the swords of the Saracens, had lived

concealed in the mountains and forests. They were clothed

in the rags of misery, and with lamentations and tears related the

disasters of the first army of the Christians. On the east they

pointed to the fortress in which the companions of Rinaldo,

pressed by hunger and thirst, had surrendered to the Turks, who

had massacred them all. Near to that they showed them the

mountains, at the foot of which had perished Walter and his

army. There the Christians had been surprised by the Mussulmans

at the moment their priests were celebrating the sacrifice of

the mass

 

Book II

 

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 18.8 x 23.8cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 10

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Priests exhorting the Crusaders

 

In the immense crowd of Crusaders, no count, no prince, deigned

to receive orders from any one. The Christians presented the

image of a republic under arms. This republic, in which

everything appeared to be in common, recognised no other law

but that of honour, no other tie but that of religion. So great

was their zeal that chiefs performed the duties of common men,

and the latter required no signal to rush to victory of encounter

death. The priests passed continually amongst the ranks, to recall

to the Crusaders the maxims of Scriptural morality. Their

discourses were not thrown away; for if, we may credit

contemporary authors, who seldom spare the champions

of the cross, the conduct of the Christians during the siege of

Nice offered nothing but examples of warlike virtue and

subjects of edification

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.8 x 24.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 11

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Crusaders throwing heads into Nice

 

This second battle, in which the Turks showed the courage of

despair, seconded by all the stratagems of war, lasted from

morning to night. The victory ... cost the Christians two thousand

lives. The Crusaders made a great many prisoners; four thousand

Mussulmans fell on the field of battle; the heads of a thousand

were sent to Alexius, and the rest, by the aid of machines, were

cast into the city, to inform the garrison of this fresh defeat for

the Turks

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.9 x 24.8cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

 

Code: GD HC 12

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The Battle of Nicea

 

"Then the two armies," says Matthew of Edessa, who speaks of this

battle, "joined, mingled, and attacked each other with equal fury.

Everywhere glittered casques and shields; lances rung against

cuirasses; the air resounded with piercing cries; the terrified

horses recoiled at the din of arms and the hissing of arrows; the

earth trembled beneath the tread of the combatants, and the

plain was for a vast space bristling with javelins." Godfrey,

Tancred, and the two Roberts appeared to be everywhere at

once, and carried death and terror into the ranks of the infidels.

The Turks could not long withstand the impetuous valour of the

Crusaders; they were put to the rout and pursued by the

conquerors even to the mountains, which served them as a

place of refuge

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.7 x 24.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 13

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The Battle of Dorylæum

 

Bohémond ordered a body of his choicest soldiers to draw their

swords and follow him. He crossed the river, and overcame every

obstacle that was placed in his way. In an instant the camp of the

Christians was invaded and filled by the Turks. The Saracens

massacred all who came within reach of their swords; sparing none

but young and beautiful women, whom they destined for their

seraglios. If we are to believe Albert of Aix, the daughters and the

wives of the barons and knights preferred on this occasion slavery

to death; for they were seen, in the midst of the tumult, decking

themselves in their most beautiful vestments, and presenting

themselves thus before the Saracens, seeking by the display of their

charms to soften the hearts of a pitiless enemy. In the mean while

Bohémond, rendered aware of the attack upon the camp, came

promptly to its succour, and forced the sultan to rejoin the body of

his army. Then the conflict recommenced on the banks of the river

with increased fury. The duke of Normandy, who had remained

along with some of the knights on the field of battle, snatched his

white pennon embroidered with gold from the hand of him who

bore it, and rushed into the thickest of the fight, crying aloud, "It

is the will of God! It is the will of God!" He cut down with his sword

all who were in his path; among the victims to his valour being one

of the principal Turkish emirs.

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19.8 x 24.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 14

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Burying the dead after the Battle of Dorylæum

 

The day after the victory the Crusaders repaired to the field of

battle for the purpose of burying the dead. They had lost four

thousand of their companions, and they paid them their duties in

tears; the clergy offered up their prayers for them, and the army

honoured them as martyrs. They soon, however, passed from

funeral ceremonies to transports of the wildest joy. On stripping

the Saracens, they quarrelled for their blood-stained habits. In the

excess of their delight, some of the soldiers would put on the

armour of their enemies, and clothing themselves in the flowing

robes of the Mussulmans, would seat themselves in the tents of

the conquered, and, with imitative gestures, ridicule the luxury

and customs of Asia. Such as were without arms took possession

of the swords and crooked sabres of the Saracens, and the archers

filled their quivers with the arrows which had been shot at them

during the fight

 

Book II

 

 

Provenance: An American Collector

 

Image Size: 19. x 24.4cm

Vintage Image Price: US$200

 

Code: GD HC 15

 

 

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25


 

Dante's Inferno (1887)

A rare copy of Dante's Inferno - illustrated by Doré, translated by The Rev. Henry Francis Cary (M. A.) and published by Pollard and Moss (New York) in 1887.

 

This copy shows the original cloth cover decorated in gilt and black. The page edges retain the original gold tipped finish.

 

 

 

 

Inferno is the first of three canticas comprising Dante Alighieri's Commedia (later referred to as Commedia Divina - the Divine

Comedy in English), the other canticas being Purgatorio and Paradiso. Commedia is considered the central epic poem of

Italian literature and was composed by Dante sometime between 1308 and 1321.

 

The themes explored within Commedia draw upon a number of influences including the imagery consistent with the

then-contemporary Medieval view of a Christian afterlife - as fostered by the Holy Roman Church (later to become the

Catholic Church) - in addition to contemporary political events, including Dante's exile from Florence.

 

Inferno serves as an introduction to Commedia - with Dante being met by his guide, Virgil, after the intercession of his

beloved Beatrice  as he was contemplating suicide - in addition to chronicling the passage of Dante and Virgil through

the Nine Circles of Hell.

 

76 images

 

Portrait of Dante Alighieri

 

 

Provenance - American Collector

 

Code: GD DI 1

In the midway of this our mortal life,

I found me in a gloomy wood, astray.

 

Canto I., lines 1, 2.

 

 

Provenance - American Collector

 

Code: GD DI 2 

Scarce the ascent

Began, when, lo! a panther nimble, light,

And cover'd with a speckled skin, appear'd:

Nor, when it saw me, vanished

 

Canto I., lines 29-32.

 

 

Provenance - American Collector

 

Code: GD DI 3

A lion came, 'gainst me as it appear'd,

With his head held aloft, and hunger mad.

 

Canto I., lines 43, 44.

 

 

Provenance - American Collector

 

He, soon as he saw