Victor HUGO / Signed Autograph Letter / The Liberation of the Territory / Poetry

  

Autographed letter signed "Victor Hugo" to Mr. Lafeuillade Paris, 12th of 8bre [October] [1873], 1 1/2 pages in 8vo on blue checked paper. Tears at the folds, small hole on the second sheet (without affecting the text).

Autographed envelope included (stamped and postmarked). Hugo refuses all copyright for the publication of his patriotic poem. The Liberation of the Territory.

I accept with emotion the glorious gift you announce to me. It can be deposited at my place, 20, r. I thank the donors from the bottom of my soul. Please tell them in my name.

The money generated from the sale of the poem The Liberation of the Territory will not pass through my hands; it will be deposited directly into the relief fund for the Alsatians-Lorrains. I will forward, if the opportunity arises, your honorable recommendation for Mr.

Completed on August 31, 1873, The Liberation of the Territory was published as a brochure by Michel Lévy frères on September 16, 1873, the day of the "liberation of the territory" (a reference to the evacuation of German troops after the early payment of the war indemnity). The first part of the poem was published the next day on the front page of the newspaper Le Rappel. 23,986 copies of this brochure were sold, generating a total of 11,993 francs. After deducting the reimbursement of production costs, 4,506.30 francs remained, fairly distributed among three relief societies for the benefit of the Alsatians-Lorrains (1,502.10 francs each): the one presided over by Mr.

Crémieux, the one presided over by Mr. D'Haussonville, and the one on Boulevard Magenta. As he indicates in this letter, Hugo, at the height of his fame, refused all copyright for this publication.

The poem was later included in Actes et paroles - Since the Exile [second part, XVI] in 1876. We have not found any trace of this Mr.