<p><b>HUGO Victor 1802-1885</b></p><p>Autograph letter signed "<i>Victor H</i>" to Joséphine TrébuchetBrussels 19th December 1851 1 page in-8 on double sheetFold marks</p><p><b>Vibrant and precious letter from Victor Hugo written in the early hours of his exile from Brussels just 17 days after Napoleon III's coup d'état</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><i>"Brussels – 19 XbreMy wife tells me all your lovely gratitude dear cousin how to thank you. <b>Alas! I no longer have a long arm</b> otherwise I would kiss you from Brussels to Paris.Tell my dear and good cousin that my heart is full of him. <b>I have fought for the right for the truth for the righteous for the people for France against crime in all its forms from treason to atrocity. We have succumbed but valiantly and proudly and the future is ours</b>. Praise God always!I kiss your hands my cousin.Victor H.Kiss my dear daughter for me."</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>On December 2nd 1851 the day of Napoleon III's coup d'état Victor Hugo was put a price on his own head for his opposition to the emperor and for trying in vain to organize the resistance by raising the Parisian masses. 25000 francs reward are promised to whoever captures him. On 11 December Hugo with a false passport leaves Paris for Brussels on the 8pm train under the name Jacques-Firmin Lanvin. He is alone.</p><p>On the same day as our letter December 19 Hugo wrote to Paul Meurice: "<i>If we could colonize a small corner of free earth! Exile would no longer be exile. I'm making this dream."</i></p><p>This small corner of free land was first the Channel Island of Jersey then the island of Guernsey where it settled as early as 1855. His exile lasted for nearly 20 years.</p><p>At the capitulation of Napoleon III following the stinging failure of the French army in Sedan on September 1st 1870 Victor Hugo returned to France on the 5th of the same month and uttered these unforgettable words that would forever last:<i>"Citizen I said: The day the Republic returns I will return. </i><i>Here I am.</i> … <i>Defend Paris keep Paris. </i><i>Saving Paris is more than saving France saving the world. Paris is the very center of humanity. Paris is the sacred city. Whoever attacks Paris attacks the whole human race.</i> … <i>Let us all gather around the Republic in the face of invasion and be brothers. We'll win. It is through brotherhood that freedom is saved."</i></p>
Boston: Estes and Lauriat 1892. Holland Paper Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. b/w Illustrations. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Complete in 30 volumes. Bound in vellum with red and blue titling and blue geometrical design band to covers and spine top edge gilt deckled edges 8vo approx. 400pp/vol. Holland Paper Edition. No. 9 of 500 copies. Illustrated with captioned tissue-garded plates. A solid and complete set encompassing most of Victor Hugo's storied catalogue. Noted as the first collected edition to include all the romances travels poems and dramas. slight darkening at spines minor light wear to extremities 4 volumes with light chipping/snags at upper tip vol. 91318 & 24; sm. drip smudge vol. 1 upper board. Volumes include: Les Misérables 5 vols. Notre-Dame de Paris 2 vols. Toiles of the Sea 2 vols. The Man Who Laughs 2 vols. The Rhine 2 vols. The History of a Crime 2 vols. Ninety-Three 2 vols. Hans of Iceland 2 vols. William Shakespeare 1 vol. Things Seen Essays 1 vol. Dramas 4 vols. Poems 3 vols. and The Life Times and Works of Victor Hugo 2 vols. A very large and heavy set; additional postage may be required. Estes and Lauriat hardcover
Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Very Good with no dustjacket. Limited Edition. Hardcover. The pages of each are very bright and clean. The dark green cloth covers are very good. The tan paper spine labels vary from very good to moderately damaged/stained. ; Complete 30-volume set. This is a De Luxe limited edition set #60 of 1000. Illustrated. Weight is 58 pounds so extra postage will be necessary. Not for sale outside of the US. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall . Estes & Lauriat hardcover
Mazzotta 1993. Paperback. Very Good. 4to paperback. Vg condition. Very light rubbing to covers contents clean no marking or writing. Binding secure. 238 pp. illus. some color. Translated from the French: a comprehensive catalogue for an exhibition that originally took place at the Bibliotheque Nationale Paris of the remarkable artwork of this polymath. Mazzotta paperback
Victor Hugo: Oeuvres Poetiques Tome 1: Avant L'Exil 1802 - 1851 Bibliotheque de la Pleiade. nrf. In French. Preface par Gaetan Picon; Editions Etablie et Annotee par Pierre Albouy. Editionns Gallimard 1964. Leather bound 1736 pages. Editions Gallimard