Picaresque

Don Quixote, Samuel Pickwick, Sebastian Dangerfield, Huckleberry Finn... the archetype of the rascally yet endearing rogue is one with which we are all familiar, though we may not know its origins. And perhaps no character encapsulates what it means to be an appealing anti-hero more than Gil Blas, the star of Alain-René Lesage’s picaresque novel by the same name.

Picaresque novels blend elements of comedy and satire in their depictions of a lovable charlatan. Published in the early 1700s, Gil Blas has been described by Edgar Allan Poe as being among “the finest narratives in the world” and was a key item on Thomas Jefferson’s reading list. And though it has come to define the genre, Lesage’s work itself was influenced by the story Lazarillo de Tormes, a novella published anonymously in 1554. This Spanish work is what gives us the term “picaresque,” stemming from picaresca, meaning “rascal,” and it established the key features of a “picaro” character – a lower-class person surviving by their own wits in what is seen as a corrupt or unjust society.

These two foundational works of the picaresque genre were published together in 1846, and our cover design recreates that publication’s binding. May the spirits of the charming rapscallions Gil Blas and Lázaro inspire you to go rogue and ramble on in your own quixotic adventures.