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the history of holly russia
GUSTAVE DORÉ

* 112 black and white pages + one colour on Munken Print White 150g
* 23 x 30.5 cm
* hardcover, cloth spine
* sewn binding with H&T bands
* ISBN 978-2-919242-18-4 / EAN 9782919242184
* Price : 26 euros / HT 24.64 euros

“The dramatic, picturesque, and grotesque history of holy Russia according to its chroniclers and historians Nestor, Nikon, Sylvester, Karamzin, Segur etc... etc... etc...”

The full title of this meandering and unbridled chronicle (almost 500 engravings), produced during the Crimean War which found Russia fighting the Ottoman Empire and its allies (including France under Napoleon III), goes a long way toward summing up this work. Moved to patriotism, the young Gustave Doré, age 22, launched into this iconoclastic, deliberately outrageous, and fiercely parodic epic. But his narrative innovations and graphic daring transcended his pamphleteering intentions to create a fundamental milestone in the history of comics.

40 years before Christophe’s La Famille Fenouillard, 70 years before Herriman’s Krazy Kat, Doré gives us the entire scope of his terrific exuberance. Far more than an artifact of mere historical interest, this work displays an inventiveness and freedom of expression every bit as experimental as the most avant-garde contemporary comics. Since its initial publication 160 years ago, no reprintings have been based on the unabridged original edition: this is the first complete reissue to be faithful to this forgotten masterpiece.

This edition also includes a postface by Guillaume Dégé, illustrator and Doré scholar. Designed and pageset by Benjamin Adam.

This edition was an Official Legacy Selection at the 2014 Angoulême International Comics Festival.