Three centuries ago, in 1726, Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” was published, going on to become one of the most adapted and re-illustrated works of literature in history.
The best-known scene: ship’s surgeon Lemuel Gulliver wakes after a shipwreck to find himself tied down with ropes while the tiny people of Lilliput climb over him. But the novel goes much further, to the land of giants, Brobdingnag, the flying island of Laputa, and finally the society of rational horses, the Houyhnhnms, who see humans as savage “Yahoos”.
Between two images that have competed for readers’ imagination — a biting satire of politics, the church, law and colonialism, and a fantasy adventure for children — illustrators have reimagined Gulliver generation after generation. Swift wrote that he meant his work “to vex the world rather than divert it”.
In this gallery we show examples of artists who illustrated the novel over the centuries, from British caricaturist James Gillray at the start of the 19th century, to the French illustrator Grandville, to the 1913 edition cover drawn by Louis Rhead.
Source: BBC Arabic. Images: Wikimedia Commons (public domain/free licences)
