[BOIS (engraving) - HUGO (Victor)]. - Lot 55

[BOIS (engraving) - HUGO (Victor)]. Portrait of Victor Hugo seated. S.l., 1879. - Woodcut 425 x 322 mm, bleached with ceruse white. Impressive woodcut matrix depicting Victor Hugo seated from the front, engraved by Paul Bernard Valette (1851-1880), whose signature appears lower left, after Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat's 1879 portrait of the writer. The work is composed of twelve blocks carefully assembled in three rows of four. The first two rows feature blocks measuring approximately 125 x 85 mm, while those in the last row are more elongated, measuring 180 x 85 mm. This portrait was published in Le Monde illustré (n°1166, August 2, 1879), where it occupied a double-page spread accompanied by the caption: "Victor Hugo // Tableau de M. Bonnat // Gravure de M. Vallette, d'après la photographie de M. Braun." On the verso was the note: "Victor Hugo d'après Bonnat Salon de 1879." A deliberate notch has been made at the top of the matrix, rendering it unusable for future prints. This practice, common in the world of engraving, prevented any unauthorized reuse of the original plate.