Education: Men, Mice & Hell

Gustave D ore's Inferno has been the standard visualization of Hell ever since 1861. For graphic-minded moderns, as for Victorians, the illustrations have three sure-fire hellfire appeals: they tell the story, make a clear moral point, radiate the literal horror of a waxworks.

Published last fortnight was The Terrible Gustave Dore (Marchbanks Press; $2.50), a thoughtful reflection on that "agreeable terror." It is an unpretentious, revealing study. By comparing his subject with the surrealists, Author Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, Manhattan teacher and bibliophile, deftly indicates the psychological sources of Dore's work. By recalling...

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