229 - HUGO (Victor), 1802–1885.

HUGO (Victor), 1802–1885. Letter from the author, “Victor Hugo,” Hauteville House (Guernsey), December 26 (no year), 1 p., in-8, most likely to Léon or Gaston Bérardi, editor of the Brussels daily L’Indépendance belge: “My honorable and excellent friend, [...] you cannot publish 'Garibaldi’s verses' any more than you have published mine; he and I are becoming equally impossible."" He addresses this warning to his friend rather than to the newspaper, while reaffirming his affection, and adds in a postscript: “Garibaldi’s letter itself is in my hands, and it has been a revelation to me [...]” An interesting letter concerning the relationship between Victor Hugo and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the publication of the Italian patriot’s verses in the Belgian press. The relationship between Hugo and Garibaldi—two leading figures in the struggle for the freedom of peoples and the republican ideal—was marked by deep mutual admiration. From his exile in Guernsey, Hugo publicly supported the hero of Italian unification, particularly after his defeat at Mentana in November 1867, to which he responded with his poem *La Voix de Guernesey*. Garibaldi, in turn, sent him verses titled *La Voix de Caprera*, dated January 3, 1868. This letter, likely dated December 26, 1867, may constitute an early account of the correspondence surrounding this poetic response and its publication in the press. In January 1868, Hugo specifically approached Bérardi regarding Garibaldi’s verses, which he wished to announce without necessarily publishing them, for fear that their formal imperfections might invite criticism.