HUGO (Victor). *Les Voix intérieures*. *Les Rayons et les Om - Lot 140

HUGO (Victor). *Les Voix intérieures*. *Les Rayons et les Ombres*. Paris: Librairie Alphonse Lemerre, 1939. Large 12mo, contemporary binding in dark green half-shagreen with corner pieces, spine with five raised bands, compartments decorated with fleurons and gilt fillets, gilt title labels, marbled paper covers, double gilt fillets at the fore-edges and corners, gilt head, other edges untrimmed. A compilation of two major collections of poetry by Victor Hugo: *Les Voix intérieures*, first published in 1837, and *Les Rayons et les Ombres*, published in 1840. The latter is a direct continuation of the former and, together with it, forms a particularly coherent whole within Hugo’s poetic oeuvre. An Alphonse Lemerre edition printed in 1939, as explicitly stated in the colophon: “Printed by A. Lemerre, 6, rue des Bergers, Paris — 1939.” This is therefore a later edition, not a first edition. The copy is printed on fine laid paper with wide margins, retaining numerous watermarks and untrimmed edges. The typography and paper quality give this late Lemerre edition a bibliophilic character that is significantly superior to standard editions. A very attractive half-shagreen binding with corner pieces, decorated in the classical style, likely executed shortly after publication. The spine is richly embellished and highly decorative. There is some minor rubbing and slight signs of wear on the binding, notably a small, superficial tear on the spine visible in the photograph; the interior is fresh. A beautiful copy, attractively bound in a bibliophile’s binding.