Gustave Doré illustrated an 1863 edition of Don Quixote and, much like the Inferno, they promptly became accepted as the "canonical" versions. There's a couple hundred across the two books, and it's interesting to see the different styles, etc. I had some time today, so I went through the whole thing on Gutenberg edition and checked them all out. It's a little messy, since it looks like they pulled them from multiple sources, rescaled them, etc. Anybody got a nice copy lying around, you could totally give them a hand with scanning them, etc. (Honestly, the wikimedia set looks better.)
The first illustration in Chapter 1 is one of a dozen or so that depicts Don Quixote's fantasies swirling around him. It's a cool effect.
Most of the illustrations lean into the absurdity, but he occasionally gives into DQ's imagined dignity. This one, of him at the castle/inn in Chapter 3, is sombre and beautiful.
Some of them are kind of gory, like this one from Chapter 32, "read of Felixmarte of Hircania, how with one single backstroke he cleft five giants asunder through the middle as if they had been made of bean-pods"
I see three main styles across Doré's illustrations, all of which show up in Chapter 43
Cartoony, used most often for comic/slapstick scenes:
And an in-between, which is the overall default:
I'm not sure why DQ hanging around rated a full 3 illustrations, compared to some chapters that get none.
The internet tells me this goes with Chapter 44:
With this the love-smitten youth was silent, while the Judge, after hearing him, was astonished, perplexed, and surprised, as well at the manner and intelligence with which Don Luis had confessed the secret of his heart, as at the position in which he found himself, not knowing what course to take in a matter so sudden and unexpected. All the answer, therefore, he gave him was to bid him to make his mind easy for the present, and arrange with his servants not to take him back that day, so that there might be time to consider what was best for all parties. Don Luis kissed his hands by force, nay, bathed them with his tears, in a way that would have touched a heart of marble, not to say that of the Judge, who, as a shrewd man, had already perceived how advantageous the marriage would be to his daughter; though, were it possible, he would have preferred that it should be brought about with the consent of the father of Don Luis, who he knew looked for a title for his son.
But...
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I haven't gotten to Chapter 40 of Volume 2 yet, but I love the whole set with this wooden horse.
In a handful of spots, he slips into a hyper-realistic mode (Volume 2, Chap 48)
It's a great collection to take an hour and look through.
