Paul Gustave Doré was a French engraver, painter, illustrator, and sculptor. He was first published when he was 15. His illustrations appeared in works such as Poe’s The Raven, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Tennyson’s The Idylls of the King, and The Divine Comedy. After a major exhibition of his work in London, Doré also produced engravings for a book called London: A Pilgrimage, which was published in 1872. It was a success, but critics disliked it because of the fact that “Doré appeared to focus on the poverty that existed in parts of London.” Bummer for you, snobby critics! The Westminster Review claimed that “Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down.” So, to review, he was insanely talented, wasn’t afraid to speak the truth, and was a good-looking man to boot.

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