Very rare copy on vellum strong.
Hugo, Victor (1802-1885). Odes and Various Poems.
In Paris, at Pelicier, 1822.
12mo, (2) ff., ii pp., (1) f., 234 pp. Blue morocco, gilt fillets framing the boards, spine with raised bands adorned, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt edges. Binding by Chambolle-Duru.
147 x 95 mm.
Original edition printed in 500 copies: “become rare” mentions Clouzot.
Very rare copy on strong vellum. (Clouzot, p. 143)
Here is what is read in “Victor Hugo told by a witness of his life”: Louis XVIII took the volume, looked at it, opened it, and said: “It’s badly put together… It was an 18mo of dirty gray paper printed in reject type, good enough for the verses… The cover, too narrow, was adorned with a drawing depicting a vase surrounded by snakes which were undoubtedly meant to be those snakes of envy, but which rather seemed to be the taskslof a pharmacy escaping from their jar.” (Carteret, I, 389).
There are two intentions in the publication of this book, the literary intention and the political intention; but, in the author’s mind, the latter is a consequence of the former, for the history of men presents poetry only when judged from the heights of monarchical ideas and religious beliefs.
One can see in the arrangement of these Odes a division which, nonetheless, is not methodically drawn. The author felt that the emotions of a soul were no less fruitful for poetry than the revolutions of an empire.
Moreover, the realm of poetry is limitless. Beneath the real world, an ideal world exists, which appears resplendent to the eye of those whom serious meditations have accustomed to see in things more than things. The beautiful works of poetry in all genres, whether in verse or prose, that have honored our century, have revealed this truth, barely suspected before, that poetry is not in the form of ideas, but in the ideas themselves. Poetry is everything intimate in everything.
Very rare copy on vellum, with wide margins, adorned with a superb blue morocco binding by Chambolle-Duru.
