Gustave Dore’s Superb 1867 Full-Page Illustrations for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Gustav Dore's work is the ideal match for Raspe's extraordinary Baron

The 1867 edition of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe featured illustrations by the great French artist and engraver Gustave Doré (6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883). Dore illustrated books by Edgar Allan Poe, Milton, Lord Byron Dante, Balzac and Coleridge. His work for Raspe’s tale of the incredible French baron are as uplifting as the Baron’s ballon – the one he used to lift buildings and put them in new places.

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I beheld I beheld him hanging by his bridle to the weathercock of the Steeple”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“They were strung like pearls”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I guided myself towards my destination”

CHAPTER VI
The Baron is made a prisoner of war, and sold for a slave—Keeps the Sultan’s bees, which are attacked by two bears—Loses one of his bees; a silver hatchet, which he throws at the bears, rebounds and flies up to the moon; brings it back by an ingenious invention; falls to the earth on his return, and helps himself out of a pit—Extricates himself from a carriage which meets his in a narrow road, in a manner never before attempted nor practised since—The wonderful effects of the frost upon his servant’s French horn.

– The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I beheld a noble stag with a fine full-grown cherry-tree between his antlers”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“The bear blew up with a terrible explosion”

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“The fellow was perfectly right about the fur cloak’s madness”

CHAPTER X
Pays a visit during the siege of Gibraltar to his old friend General Elliot—Sinks a Spanish man-of-war—Wakes an old woman on the African coast—Destroys all the enemy’s cannon; frightens the Count d’Artois, and sends him to Paris—Saves the lives of two English spies with the identical sling that killed Goliath; and raises the siege.

– The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“They brought up to the bank the servant”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“And at last made him mount the tea-table “

 

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“He drank uncommonly, with an eagerness not to be satisfied”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I lifted myself up by my pig-tail”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I drove a big peg into the hole placed at the pole’s end”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“The sun himself got chilblains”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“Placing one under either arm”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“A man and his wife were busy among its branches, gathering cucumbers”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“His head had got as far as the other beast’s throat”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“The box was filled by a huge coachman”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“My situation was rather damp, for the water penetrated my not very stout clothing”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“Seeing a naked man emerge from his body”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“A personage of a corpulence worthy of Falstaff”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I had the honour of seeing the seraglio”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“These ragamuffins felt no scruple in plundering me”

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“Some, standing in a circle, sang choruses of inexpressible beauty”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I met, from time to time, with huge fishes “

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I fell upon a large haystack”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I had scarcely finished my preparations when the whole herd came round me”

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“I saw them all lying dead in a circle round me”

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“It looked round and shining, like a glittering island”

CHAPTER XX
The Baron slips through the world: after paying a visit to Mount Etna he finds himself in the South Sea; visits Vulcan in his passage; gets on board a Dutchman; arrives at an island of cheese, surrounded by a sea of milk; describes some very extraordinary objects—Lose their compass; their ship slips between the teeth of a fish unknown in this part of the world; their difficulty in escaping from thence; arrive in the Caspian Sea—Starves a bear to death—A few waistcoat anecdotes—In this chapter, which is the longest, the Baron moralises upon the virtue of veracity.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

 

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“He held me suspended over a sort of well”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

“The old one swooped down upon us”

The adventures of Baron Munchausen by Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883

 

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