Dore's Illustrations for Don Quixote

Most illustrators of the classics fall far short of the efforts of the works they are asked to illustrate, but Dore almost always managed to eerily echo visually the genius of the original authors. After reading the first half of DON QUIXOTE, I discovered this Dover collection of Dore's illustrations of the work, and I found them to be completely stunning. Dore had a genius for precisely visualizing events in the novel and transferring them precisely into his illustrations. No scene is too much of a challenge to him. The famous moment when Don Quixote attacks the windmills, mistaking them as giants, is depicted brilliantly by Dore. Every famous scene and many less famous scenes are all depicted, and I can honestly say that not once does Dore disappoint me in his imaging of how the scene occurred. One can, if one wants, make minor quibbles with Dore, such as his drawing Quixote wearing the wash basin helmet even in section later in the novel where he is said to have worn a sallet helmet. But this truly would be mere quibbling, for throughout Dore perfectly captures the spirit of DON QUIXOTE.

I'm convinced that this collection of illustrations is not nearly as well known as it deserves to be. Graphic novels are an extremely popular genre today, and it is impossible to imagine anyone interested in the visual aspects of those stories not being fascinated by Dore's far more complex and classically organized illustrations. Likewise, no one interested in graphic art or the history of art could not find these less than riveting. Most of all, anyone who loves DON QUIXOTE will adore these drawings, and to work through the various illustrations is to relive all the glorious events of the novel once again. Indeed, one could almost argue that while other translators have managed with more or less success to translate Cervantes's masterpiece into English or German or French, Dore managed to translate the novel into a purely visual language.