DEATH OF SAMSON 1885 Gustave Doré - Charles Laplante ANTIQUE ENGRAVING

Original 9 3/4 inch x 7 3/4 inch Engraving titled THE DEATH OF SAMSON.

”The well-known incident of Samson pulling down the house of the Philistines at Gaza, by which he and his enemies were crushed to death, is here energetically delineated.”

Illustration by Gustave Doré (1832 - 1883). The most popular and successful French book illustrator of the middle of the 19th century. Doré became widely known for his illustrations to such books as Danté’s Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1862), and the Bible (1866), and he helped to give European currency to the illustrated book of large format. He was so prolific that at one time he employed more than forty wood engravers. His work is characterized by an eclectic mix of Michelangelesque nudes, northern traditions of sublime landscape, and a highly spirited love of the grotesque and bizarre.

Engraved by Charles Laplante (1837 - 1903).

From Doré’s illustrated edition of the Bible 1866.

This edition from Cassell’s ‘Doré Gallery’ published in 1885.

Page size 12 1/4 inch x 9 1/8 inch

The engraving is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.