The Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel, Woodcuts by François Desprez from 1565

Here are amazing woodcuts of various bizarre characters from “Les songes drolatiques de Pantagruel” translated into English as “The Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel” published in 1565.

h/t: monsterbrains

François Desprez was a French engraver and illustrator, little known today, who lived in the 16th century. He collaborated on several occasions with the illustrator and engraver, as well as publisher, Richard Breton (1524-1571), who was more renowned than Desprez.

The book, whose title could also be translated as “The Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel,” is made up of 120 engravings that Rabelais is said to have created. These engravings are now credited to Desprez, thanks to the important work of Jean Porcher (1892–1966), the renowned historian and expert on French illuminated manuscripts. Still, they surely partake in the Rabelaisian imagination in one way or another. Merely observing them is sufficient to identify elements of the grotesque aesthetics in them.