[HUGO, Victor]. Bug-Jargal par l'auteur de Han d'Islande.
Paris, Urbain Canel, 1826
In-12 (156 x 105 mm): [4] ff., iv-386 pp., cat., [2] ff. Full red Jansenist morocco, spine with false ribbing, title and author in gilt, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt edges, gilt lace on the endpapers (Cuzin).
Original edition.
Copy printed on laid paper after a few copies on vellum paper, in its binding signed Cuzin (1836-1890). Francisque Cuzin was a bookbinder in Paris from 1861 and died in 1890. The workshop closed definitively in 1939.
Victor Hugo's first novel, the novel was published when he was still a teenager in "Le Conservateur Littéraire" and signed simply with "M". The story traces the tragic destiny of Bug-Jargal, a black slave in Saint-Domingue in 1791 and whose Haitian revolt would constitute the first successful slave revolt in the modern world.
Our book comes from the Robert Hoe Library (1839-1909) . A huge American collector of the 19th century, he was the founder and first president of the Grolier Club - created in 1884 and still active. His personal collection was about 20,000 works.
Some rubbing on the joints and a slightly faded spine are to be noted. The copy remains superb with a fresh interior without any foxing.
