159 - HUGO, Victor. *Napoléon le Petit*.

HUGO, Victor. *Napoléon le Petit*. First deluxe edition, of the utmost rarity, printed in a run of only 22 copies; this is one of the first six copies on China paper. In France [Brussels], 1853. In-18 (132 x 89 mm), full Jansenist red morocco, ribbed spine highlighted with blind-stamped fillets, gold interior lace, double fillet on the edges, guilloché headbands, gold head on the headbands. Contemporary binding. 2 blank folios and 284 pages. Slight scuffing on the cap ends, a few rare foxing spots on the edges and along the margins of some leaves. Extremely rare deluxe edition published one year after the original edition. One of 6 numbered head copies on China paper (No. 2). The bibliographic address “En France” is a fictitious notation, as the work was printed clandestinely in Brussels to circumvent imperial censorship. The first authorized edition on French soil would not appear until 1870, following the fall of the Second Empire. [Vicaire, IV, 310]. Written by Victor Hugo in 1852 during his exile in Brussels, this political pamphlet was a direct response to the coup d’état of December 2, 1851, through which Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte retained power before restoring the Empire, thereby overthrowing the Second Republic of which he had been the elected president. In this attack of unprecedented ferocity, Hugo directly confronts the new emperor, whom he calls “the lowest of men,” a “thief,” and even a “crook.” The author’s resentment is heightened by the fact that he had initially supported Bonaparte’s candidacy in the 1848 presidential elections. From the library of Charles Jolly-Bavoillot (1821–1895), with his bookplate engraved by Hector Giacomelli, bearing the motto “Aimer Admirer” (To Love, To Admire). This famous Franco-American bibliophile, whose Romantic collection was sold at auction in Paris in June 1896, was renowned for his meticulous standards. The fine craftsmanship of this Jansenist binding suggests it was produced by the Chambolle-Duru workshop, to which Charles Jolly-Bavoillot entrusted many of his first editions. A fine copy.