Alain-René Lesage, who was born on 6 May 1668, has perhaps been as fortunate in the number and quality of his illustrators as any French author I’ve come across. This 1841 edition of The Devil on Two Sticks, with over 150 illustrations by the great French engraver Tony Johannot, is impressive but there is also an edition of The Adventures of Gil Blas (which I hope to feature shortly) which is on a whole other level of lavishness. For now, enjoy these devilishly good pictures and if you want to read the comic novel from which they came, it’s available via Google Books here.

Note: These images are in the public domain. For more information, see A Primer on Image Rights on OBA.

Big Letters

Illustrations