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HUGO, VICTOR. Les Misérables. Fantine. New York: Carleton, Publisher, 413 Broadway, 1862. First American Edition / First Edition in English.
The first American edition of Victor Hugo’s monumental Les Misérables, published in 1862, the same year as the original French edition. Translated from the French by Charles E. Wilbour. This is Fantine, the first of the five separately issued volumes comprising Carleton’s first American edition.
Bound in the publisher’s original blue-purple pebbled cloth, elaborately blind-stamped to both boards, with gilt decoration and lettering to the spine. Title page dated MDCCCLXII (1862), with copyright likewise dated 1862 and R. Craighead printer/electrotyper imprint. Text printed in double columns.
A well-preserved example internally, with pages generally clean and bright for its age, showing occasional minor spotting and expected age toning. Binding shows considerable shelf wear, including rubbing and loss along the board edges and corners, fraying and cloth loss at the spine extremities, and scattered rubbing/marks to the covers; gilt remains visible. An early 1882 presentation inscription appears on the front endpaper. Binding remains intact.
An appealing example of the scarce first American appearance of one of the great novels of the nineteenth century, retaining its original publisher’s cloth. Offered here as the first volume, Fantine, only; not the complete five-volume set.
Condition: Very good, with moderate exterior wear.
