Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from An Iconography of Don Quixote: 1605 1895
I. Know no book so pre-eminently suitable for illustration as El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Manchu. In its marvellous pages will be found everything that the artist can possibly desire. Will he delineate human character? Where can be found types more varied, more distinctly marked! From the duke and duchess to the galley-slaves, from the knight and his Squire to the urchins of Barcelona, one and all possess individuality. Does he seek scenery? The inhospitable plains of La Mancha and the rugged, picturesque passes of the Sierra Morena furnish it in abundant variety. Animals are there, and remarkable ones, oxen, sheep, birds, Sancho's ass, his master's horse and his galgo corriente - all studies of breed and idiosyncrasy. The costume is remarkably varied, the picturesque garments of the 17th century being mingled with the earlier armour and knightly accoutrements of that chivalry which Cervantes smill'd away. Ludicrous situations, of every possible kind, abound.
All this is well known. Since the early part of the 18th century artists of all nations and in every walk of art have been attracted by this enchanting book. Pictures, tapestries, statues, engravings are the result; unfortunately the philosophy, the pathos, the subtilty of Cervantes have too frequently been overlooked, and his broad humour alone seized upon. His hero has been depicted as a ridiculous lunatic rather than as an erudite, clear minded gentleman, and the shrewd, faithful peasant, who follows him, has been Converted into a coarse glutton. The book in short has been treated as if suitable only for the amusement of children, not, as it really is, capable of enlightening and diverting the adult. It must be owned, I fear, that no work of art emanating from Spain's most famous literary production can be placed in the very foremost rank.
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