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Lot Essay
This large and imposing sheet is a preliminary drawing for an engraved illustration to the publication of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven of 1883. It illustrates the second stanza of the poem:
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
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 public collections, including: ANATKH at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg (inv. no. 55.992.13.31; see Gustave Doré. L’imaginaire au pouvoir, exh. 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. no. 14935; see ibid., no. 228, ill.); Le Corbeau et la Mort in the Museé d’Orsay, Paris (inv. no. 266496, see Christie’s, Paris, 22 March 2023, lot 92). The preparatory drawing for ...here I opened wide the door; Darkness there and nothing more... was also part of the Hegewisch Collection and sold at Christie's, London, 16 October 2025, lot 303.
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
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 public collections, including: ANATKH at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg (inv. no. 55.992.13.31; see Gustave Doré. L’imaginaire au pouvoir, exh. 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. no. 14935; see ibid., no. 228, ill.); Le Corbeau et la Mort in the Museé d’Orsay, Paris (inv. no. 266496, see Christie’s, Paris, 22 March 2023, lot 92). The preparatory drawing for ...here I opened wide the door; Darkness there and nothing more... was also part of the Hegewisch Collection and sold at Christie's, London, 16 October 2025, lot 303.