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Lot Essay
This large and imposing sheet is a preliminary drawing for an engraved illustration to the 1883 publication of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven. It illustrates the fourth stanza of the poem:
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Doré was one of the most sought-after and active illustrators of the latter half of the 19th century. He illustrated publications such as Dante’s Divine Comedy (between 1861 and 1868) and Milton’s Paradise Lost (1866), amongst many others. The Raven was to be Doré’s final project; he produced 26 large illustrations for the poem, completing the series of drawings just before his death in January 1883 – with the book being published posthumously.
Several drawings of similar technique and dimensions for The Raven are known. Some of which are in institutional collections, including: ANATKH at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg (inv. 55.992.13.31; see Gustave Doré. L’imaginaire au pouvoir, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée d’Orsay, and Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 2014, no. 76, ill.); For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore –/ nameless here for evermore in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (inv. 14935; see ibid., no. 228, ill.); Le Corbeau et la Mort in the Museé d’Orsay, Paris (inv. 266496, see Christie’s, Paris, 22 March 2023, lot 92, sold €94,500). The preparatory drawing for Sorrow for Lenore is in the Hegewisch Collection.
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Doré was one of the most sought-after and active illustrators of the latter half of the 19th century. He illustrated publications such as Dante’s Divine Comedy (between 1861 and 1868) and Milton’s Paradise Lost (1866), amongst many others. The Raven was to be Doré’s final project; he produced 26 large illustrations for the poem, completing the series of drawings just before his death in January 1883 – with the book being published posthumously.
Several drawings of similar technique and dimensions for The Raven are known. Some of which are in institutional collections, including: ANATKH at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg (inv. 55.992.13.31; see Gustave Doré. L’imaginaire au pouvoir, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée d’Orsay, and Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 2014, no. 76, ill.); For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore –/ nameless here for evermore in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (inv. 14935; see ibid., no. 228, ill.); Le Corbeau et la Mort in the Museé d’Orsay, Paris (inv. 266496, see Christie’s, Paris, 22 March 2023, lot 92, sold €94,500). The preparatory drawing for Sorrow for Lenore is in the Hegewisch Collection.