happening: Google Doodles Charles Perrault's 388th

Gustave Dore's Puss in Boots by Perrault

The "father of the fairy tale" was recognized by Google with today's Doodle (https://www.google.com/doodles/charles-perraults-388th-birthday).  What instantly came to mind was a book I thirsted for while in the Army, and had to wait until I got out to buy.  Keep in mind that the internet did not exist forever, nor did online shopping and availability.  This was the Dover, large formatted copy of Perrault's Fairy Tales with thirty-four full-page illustrations by Gustave Dore.  What made this book stand out was, at least to what I found at the time, one of the few books to give appropriate real estate, in full pages, dedicated to Dore's renditions of Perrault's tales.  You MUST see Dore's illustrations given such a treatment because, as they are extremely detailed renditions from his etching, there's so much to explore.

This is where books shine, right?  They are not where you let the computer do the work on an easy-to-read screen, you have to get in close and move the book around your eye.

Little Red Riding Hood

The etching's are wonderful and of an era where the etchings would have been an experience to readers of all ages that may only see crude etchings otherwise.  What is fascinating with black and white etching is that it must put emphasis on the line and the density of the lines to illustrate its story.  It obviously cannot rely on color.

I am furiously partial to etchings, as you may have read of my call-out to Bernie Wrightson's interpretation of Frankenstein.

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P.S. Much love to Mr. David Bowie...he was influential to me when I was younger - being that bold artist that put everything into his art.  I honestly thought the man would live forever.  Time has cured this misconception.  May you rock through-out the cosmos Starman!