HUGO, Victor (1802-1885). Les Misérables. New York: Carleton, 1862.

5 volumes, tall 8vo. Publisher's advertisements at ends. (Some occasional spotting.) Original blind-stamped dark purple cloth, gilt-stamping on spines (spines sunned, some wear at ends); folding case.

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. A close friend of Victor Hugo, Charles E. Wilbour began his translation of Les Misérables shortly before the book was published in France; his quick work allowed it to appear in the United States within a few months of the French release and the fierce advertising campaign Wilbour waged on the book's behalf resulted in it becoming one of the most popular bestsellers of the nineteenth century, only behind Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in pre-Civil War American book sales.