– 37 – A u g u s t 2 0 2 2 Beautifully Illustrated And Bound Set Of Hugo’s Works, With An Autograph Letter Signed By Hugo 44. HUGO, Victor. The Works. Boston, 1902. Thirty volumes. Octavo, contemporary full green morocco gilt. $19,500. Edition Magnifique, one of only 26 lettered sets, with over 200 engraved plates in double suite, many hand-colored, with an autograph letter signed by Hugo tipped into the first volume of the work Ninety-Three. Hugo was “the inspired torchbearer, champion, and theorist of Romanticism, essaying—and revolutionizing—all genres… [His philosophy] released a torrent of words, symbols, and images, and some visionary writing of the highest order” (Reid, 296). This set was published for the centenary of Hugo’s birth in 1802. The plates are engraved after drawings and paintings by some of the most renowned French illustrators of the Belle Epoque: Georges Jeanniot, Luc-Olivier Merson, Georges Rochegrosse, François Flameng, Maurice Leloir, and Ricardo de los Rios, among others. The signed autograph letter, accompanied by a translation by the publisher, reads in full: “Dear Sir, I leave in a few hours on a little trip and I will be in Brussels in a few days where I will have the honor in answering yours. You will find all particulars about my family which you may desire in Hozier’s register IV, article Hugo. The coat of arms which you have mentioned under special coat of arms given to my father by Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, Comte and Marquis de Signeaza y Eifneny have only historical value, but because you desire them, I answer to all your wishes to satisfy you. Receive, dear Sir, the assurance of my best regards. V. Hugo.” Text in English. Fine condition.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDg3OTM=