ELAINE 1866 Gustave Doré - Robinson - Lancelot - Camelot VICTORIAN ENGRAVING

Original 1866 9 1/2 inch x 7 1/4 inch engraving titled ELAINE

Elaine of Astolat is a figure in Arthurian legend who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot.

Engraving by H. Robinson.

Drawn 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.
Doré began work on his illustrations for the Divine Comedy in 1855 at a time when there was a renewed interest in Dante in France. Doré himself financed the publication of the Inferno in 1861 and this was so successful that the Purgatory and Paradise were published by Hachette in 1868 as a single volume. Subsequently, Doré's Dante illustrations appeared in roughly 200 editions in many languages.

Published in the Art Journal by J.S. Virtue & Co. Ltd., London.

Page size 12 7/8 inch x 9 3/8 inch

The engraving, on fairly thick paper, is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.