Hugo, Victor. A pair of important letters by Hugo relating to his great work, Les Misérables, including: Hugo, Victor. Autog...

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Hugo, Victor. A pair of important letters by Hugo relating to his great work, Les Misérables, including: Hugo, Victor. Autograph letter signed, in French, 2 pages (8.5 x 5.37 in.; 216 x 137 mm.), Hauteville House, 11 May 1862, to the publisher Paeilli, in Milan; address panel on verso of second leaf. Hugo, Victor. A pair of important letters by Hugo relating to his great work, Les Misérables, including: Hugo, Victor. Autograph letter signed, in French, 2 pages (8.5 x 5.37 in.; 216 x 137 mm.), Hauteville House, 11 May 1862, to the publisher Paeilli, in Milan; address panel on verso of second leaf. Les Misérables: I am willing to authorize the production. Hugo writes: As the electric telegraph of the Channel Islands was interrupted, your letter arrived here from London through the mails; I will answer it in the same way. I thank you for your so obliging and prompt communication. Would you be so kind as to represent me with the director of the theatre and the author of the play? I would above all prefer an amiable arrangement, which would seem to me easy enough with honest people. I have the rights of an author; I am reducing them by half. In France, one gives the author of a drama ten percent of the receipts of each performance. Supposing the director of the theatre in Milan which is going to perform the play adapted from Les Misérables gives me half of this compensation, i.e., five percent of the gross receipts of each performance, then I am willing to authorize the production; as you can see, it is a feeble enough sum. By means of this convention, all manner of rigor would be avoided, and I would be pleased about that. I await your kind reply . . . Together with: Hugo, Victor. Autograph note, five lines in the upper left margin of a 1 page (10.5 x 8 in.; 267 x 203 mm.) letter signed by ten members of a library, in French, Paris, 29 February 1872; browning, marginal chipping; tape reinforcement to verso. Hugo recommends Les Misérables. Hugo writes: I am sending / Les Miserables / The Chastisements / Little Napoleon / The book The Children, in response to a request from "The founding members and administrators of the people's library of the XIVth district...[for] a donation to the library now being established of some of your imperishable works. In a few days, our members, numbering 320, are going to begin reading; we want to put the works in their hands which are most capable of lifting their hearts and illuminating their minds; and as the modesty of our resources does not permit us at present to make purchases, we dare to approach you ...so that you may aid us in establishing this necessary project In the hope that you will receive this request favorably, we ask you please to receive the homages of the sincere admirers of your immortal genius...."