Started in 1821,

is Victor Hugo’s earliest novel (with the exception of the first version of

, written in 1818 and published in

in 1820). The novel first came out anonymously with the publisher Persan in 1823. This edition was so unpolished that Hugo published a second edition six months later with another publisher. A third edition was published in 1833 with a preface in which Hugo invites the reader to consider this novel as the work of an inexperienced young writer and not to give it credit. Neither Hugo nor his contemporaneous critics judged

positively. Léon Thiessé wrote in the

on 21 June 1823: “Such a well-kept writer could not remain inactive; he was aware of this obligation, and it…

1783 words

Citation: Crahay, Géraldine. "Han d'Islande". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 September 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11216, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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