One of 40 copies on Hollande paper (no. 2).
A major work, the publication of La Légende des siècles extended over twenty-four years, following the rhythm of Hugo’s own writing. The first two volumes appeared in 1859, the initial part of a vast work whose two remaining pieces (La Fin de Satan and Dieu) were intended for publication despite remaining unfinished. Hugo was then occupied with another project, Les Misérables, on which his publisher Hetzel was counting heavily, and the larger work was set aside: only the first two volumes appeared in 1859, while Les Misérables was completed in 1862.
The next two volumes were published in 1877, and a final volume in 1883, forming a vast mosaic in which Hugo also wages a battle against the reification of Nature, a notion dear to the emerging scientism of the age, sharply denouncing Darwinist theories.
A very fine copy on Hollande paper.