DORÉ, GUSTAVE. 1832-1883.

2 wood engraved printing blocks for the Doré Bible.

2 wood engraved printing blocks for the Doré Bible. Each constructed of 9 separate pieces of wood, 215 x 175 mm each, being the original plates for "Adam and Eve Driven out of Eden" from the Old Testament, and "Jesus Blessing the Children" from the New Testament. Separations along seams of wooden components, some cracks and chipping to corners.

WITH: The Holy Bible. London and New York: Cassell Petter, and Galpin, [1866]. 2 volumes. Folio. 238 wood-engraved illustrations after Doré. Brown morocco gilt, spines with 5 raised bands, gilt dentelles, brown watered silk doublures, all edges gilt. Rubbed, scattered light foxing and spotting.

"Some of his illustrations for the Bible or Dante's Inferno are permanently etched in the collective consciousness ... Never in the history of Christian art had the Bible been so lavishly and imaginatively illustrated, at the risk of causing offence to some ... Almost every film about the Bible since The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ produced by Pathé in 1902 refers to his illustrations" (Musée d'Orsay website). Wood-engraved printing blocks are scarce, as the publishers routinely destroyed them rather than using valuable storage space to retain them.