Dores London

Dores London by Valerie Purton. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780785824282.

This collectors edition contains all 180 stunning images that artist Gustave Dore created when asked to undertake a portrait of London. The hardcover volume is 9.5 in x 11.8, and its beautiful page decorations and the text laid alongside the images creates a unique reading experience for lovers of literature, London, and illustration alike. The book is broken into four sections: Riches, Rags, Work, and Play. Each of these sections features literature from a contemporary great. The "Riches" section features The Eustance Diamonds by Anthony Trollope, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. "Rags" features Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens, The Mysteries of London by G.M.W. Reynolds, and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The "Work" section features The Little World of London by Charles Manby Smith, London: A Pilgrimage by Blanchard Jerrold, and London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew. Finally, "Play" features The Princess Casamassima by Henry James, Pendennis by W.M. Thackeray and Twice Around the Clock by G.A. Sala. This handsome volume truly is a necessary addition to any readers library, and manages to put in context nearly all of London during this period of massive change and dramatic class differences. It makes a wonderful gift for anyone who values history and classic literature.