HUGO, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. (1833 - FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH)

AUTHOR: HUGO, Victor. 

TITLE: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. 

PUBLISHER: London: Richard Bentley, 1833.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. 1 vol., small 8vo., (ii)(ii)(xiv)466pp(i)(i), complete with the original front and rear blank end leaves.  Number XXXII in the Standard Novels series, engraved frontispiece and additional title vignette.  Bound in the original mauve cloth, spine and edges of covers slightly sunned, with the two original gilt lettered black leather spine labels.

CONDITION: The lower label with a small center chip, inner and outer hinges fine, head and foot of spine ever so slightly rubbed, contemporary ownership signature of “Arnall Underwood” dated 1834 to the Bentley Standard Novel title-page, next to the signature an early attempt at the removal of initials (?) causing a small hole (5mm x 6mm) in the extreme upper right hand corner not affecting text, mild occasional foxing to the first and last few leaves otherwise internally clean and bright.  Surely one of the nicest copies obtainable in the original cloth and completely unsophisticated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Oddly auction records show only 3 copies ever appearing at auction.  All three were rebound and for the most part in a rather sad state.

Only 250 copies of the first French edition “Notre-Dame de Paris” were originally published in France by Charles Gosselin Libraire in 1831. In 1833 Frederick Shoberl translated the book into English for the first time and it was published here by Richard Bentley in the UK. In the US the book was published a whole year later in 1834.