Remarkable suite of plates for the plays of Victor Hugo (1802-1885), printed on silk and luxuriously bound. The engravings are beautifully drawn and capture the light in an entrancing way because of the sheen of the silk. The work starts with a portrait of Hugo by Achille Devéria (1800-1875), a painter and lithographer known for his portraits of famous authors. The other plates illustrate all 13 of Hugo's plays, including his unfinished Les jumeaux, and were made by various different artists.
The plates were engraved for the "Edition nationale", a 43 volume work containing Hugo's complete oeuvre, printed between 1885-1895. Five of the volumes were dedicated to his plays. This national edition was illustrated by some of the most important French artists of the time, including Maurice Leloir (1853-1940), Adrien Moreau (1843-1906), and Georges Antoine Rochegrosse (1859-1938). The work was limited to a 1000 copies, only available to subscribers. This included a luxury edition, printed on Japanese paper, which was limited to just 250 copies and came with an extra suite of plates printed on silk. The present work is most likely this extra suite of plates from the theatre volumes of the luxury edition.
Victor Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. His most well-known works are the novels Les Misérables (1862) and Notre-Dame de Paris (1831). He also earned respect as a campaigner for social causes, such as the abolition of capital punishment.
The present work comes from the library of Henry Baudet (1891-1921), a Dutch mathematician and chess player.
With the bookplate of Henry Baudet mounted at the head of the front pastedown. The corners of the boards are very lightly scuffed, the leather on the front and back is lightly scratched. The silk leaves are frayed at the head and foot margin, not affecting the images, the first engraving of the play Hernani has somewhat browned, some engravings are slightly creased, mostly in the margins. Otherwise in very good condition.