Rabelais / Gustave Doré - Œuvres complètes de Rabelais - 1880

Rabelais, [François] - Doré, Gustave. - Complete Works. Text
Collated based on the original editions, including a biography of the author, notes, and other elements.
Glossary by Louis Moland. Illustrations by Gustave Doré, including 60 plates, h-t. Paris.
Garnier Frères, no date [c.1880]. 2 volumes in quarto, full leather, spine with raised bands, 2
Delivery covers stored in each volume - [2 ff.], XLVII pp., [1 p.].
clef], 584 pp.; [2 ff.], 632 pp.

Rare complete set in 2 volumes of one of Gustave Doré's masterpieces. The illustration includes a portrait of Rabelais as the frontispiece, 59 plates outside the text, and over 600 chapter headers, initials, and vignettes within the text, all wood engravings. About a hundred drawings are taken from the Bry edition of 1854, and some vignettes come from the Droll Tales. Gustave Doré wished to recreate his curious and fantastical representation of the Middle Ages from a broader perspective. He used folio editions, heavy to handle, but with many qualities. These include an unmatched series of beautiful drawings, some from the Bry edition, as well as impeccable typography. The text, collated from the original editions, is accompanied by a biography of the author, notes, and a glossary by Louis Moland.

Two epidermal damages, friction, and sun exposure to the binding.

Very clean interior and almost without any rust, which is rare for this item.
Each volume weighs nearly 5 kg.