The creator of fiction's most illustrious madman, Don Quixote, also enriched the English language by two words "quixotic' (to mean eccentric behaviour) & "tilting at windmills" (to fight against imaginary enemies).
It may not be known by many that Cervantes, in his collection of stories "Exemplary Tales", included a story about another madman, nicknamed "Dr. Glass Case", who believed that he was made of glass. He was mortally afraid of being broken into smithereens at the slightest jolt.
Apart from this idiosyncrasy, he was a very wise man (thus the honorific of Doctor), on the reputation of which, he was invited to the Palace. His reply, furthered his image, as he said "that I am not fit to dwell in the Palace, because I have some sense of shame left, & do not know how to flatter."
In this connection, it may be relevant to mention the remarks of Miguel de Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, who said "If Don Quixote were to raise from the dead & return to present day Spain, they would seek out the ulterior motives behind his noble extravagance. If anyone denounces an abuse, prosecutes injustice, lashes out at vulgarity, the slaves ask themselves: What is he looking for here? What is he after? Sometimes they think & say that he does it to get his mouth stopped with gold etc.,
The artists who illustrated famous books became in many cases, inseparable from the authors themselves. The classic example being Gustav Dore, whose woodcuts for "Don Quixote" became so legendary that they have been collected together in a book of their own.
Then there is George Cruikshank, who illustrated "Grimm's Fairy Tales" & many other notable books. Arthur Rackham's illustrations for the above book & copious output put him among the all time greats. Ernest Shepard, the "Punch" cartoonist, became more famous as the picturiser of "Winnie the Pooh", much to his discomfiture.
His daughter Mary, illustrated the "Mary Poppins" books, pleasing even the
fastidious author, P. L. Travers, who harassed Walt Disney for 20 years & even then was dissatisfied with his film, which however found universal acclamation.
Foremost among these Illustrators is Sir John Tenniel, whose pictures for the Lewis Carroll oeuvre are immortal. Among the later ones is Inga Moore, who inspired by the Impressionists, illustrated memorable editions of "The Wind in the Willows" & "The Secret Garden" among others.
Not to be forgotten are the two authors who illustrated their own best selling books, Antoine de Saint-Exupery his "The Little Prince" & Beatrix Potter her "Peter Rabbit".
Driven by the recent spectacular advances in colour printing technology, many later artists like Anna Bond (Alice) & Guiliano Ferri (Aesop) have also illustrated many books in a contemporary, if quirky way.
The creator of fiction's most illustrious madman, Don Quixote, also enriched the English language by two words "quixotic' (to mean eccentric behaviour) & "tilting at windmills" (to fight against imaginary enemies).
