Les Misérables

The Convict, the Bishop and the Barricade

Victor Hugo, Isabel Florence Hapgood

• Publisher: Aeneas Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9785501298354
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

A man jailed nineteen years for stealing bread, the policeman who will not stop hunting him, and a barricade in a Paris street where students die for a republic that does not come. Hugo wrote most of it in exile on Guernsey, having carried the unfinished manuscript out of France in 1851. He sent his publisher a telegram consisting of one character, a question mark, and was answered with an exclamation mark. Its 209 original illustrations have been carefully restored and coloured for this edition.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Preface
• Chapter I—M. Myriel
• Chapter II—M. Myriel Becomes M. Welcome
• Chapter III—A Hard Bishopric for a Good Bishop
• Chapter IV—Works Corresponding to Words
• Chapter V—Monseigneur Bienvenu Made His Cassocks Last Too Long
• Chapter VI—Who Guarded His House for Him
• Chapter VII—Cravatte
• Chapter VIII—Philosophy After Drinking
• Chapter IX—The Brother as Depicted by the Sister
• Chapter X—The Bishop in the Presence of an Unknown Light
• Chapter XI—A Restriction
• Chapter XII—The Solitude of Monseigneur Welcome
• Chapter XIII—What He Believed
• Chapter XIV—What He Thought
• Chapter I—The Evening of a Day of Walking
• Chapter II—Prudence Counselled to Wisdom.
• Chapter III—The Heroism of Passive Obedience.
• Chapter IV—Details Concerning the Cheese-Dairies of Pontarlier.
• Chapter V—Tranquillity
• Chapter VI—Jean Valjean
• Chapter VII—The Interior of Despair
• Chapter VIII—Billows and Shadows
• Chapter IX—New Troubles
• Chapter X—The Man Aroused
• Chapter XI—What He Does
• Chapter XII—The Bishop Works
• Chapter XIII—Little Gervais
• Chapter I—The Year 1817
• Chapter II—A Double Quartette
• Chapter III—Four and Four
• Chapter IV—Tholomyès Is So Merry That He Sings a Spanish Ditty
• Chapter V—At Bombarda’s
• Chapter VI—A Chapter in Which They Adore Each Other
• Chapter VII—The Wisdom of Tholomyès
• Chapter VIII—The Death of a Horse
• Chapter IX—A Merry End to Mirth
• Chapter I—One Mother Meets Another Mother
• Chapter II—First Sketch of Two Unprepossessing Figures
• Chapter III—The Lark
• Chapter I—The History of a Progress in Black Glass Trinkets
• Chapter II—Madeleine
• Chapter III—Sums Deposited with Laffitte
• Chapter IV—M. Madeleine in Mourning
• Chapter V—Vague Flashes on the Horizon
• Chapter VI—Father Fauchelevent
• Chapter VII—Fauchelevent Becomes a Gardener in Paris
• Chapter VIII—Madame Victurnien Expends Thirty Francs on Morality
• Chapter IX—Madame Victurnien’s Success
• Chapter X—Result of the Success
• Chapter XI—Christus Nos Liberavit
• Chapter XII—M. Bamatabois’s Inactivity
• Chapter XIII—The Solution of Some Questions Connected with the Municipal Police
• Book Sixth—Javert. Chapter I—The Beginning of Repose
• Chapter II—How Jean May Become Champ
• Book Seventh—The Champmathieu Affair. Chapter I—Sister Simplice
• Chapter II—The Perspicacity of Master Scaufflaire
• Chapter III—A Tempest in a Skull
• Chapter IV—Forms Assumed by Suffering During Sleep
• Chapter V—Hindrances
• Chapter VI—Sister Simplice Put to the Proof
• Chapter VII—The Traveller on His Arrival Takes Precautions for Departure
• Chapter VIII—An Entrance by Favor
• Chapter IX—A Place Where Convictions Are in Process of Formation
• Chapter X—The System of Denials
• Chapter XI—Champmathieu More and More Astonished
• Book Eighth—A Counter-Blow. Chapter I—In What Mirror M. Madeleine Contemplates His Hair
• Chapter II—Fantine Happy
• Chapter III—Javert Satisfied
• Chapter IV—Authority Reasserts Its Rights
• Chapter V—A Suitable Tomb
• Chapter I—What Is Met with on the Way from Nivelles
• Chapter II—Hougomont
• Chapter III—The Eighteenth of June, 1815
• Chapter IV—A Rose in Misery
• Chapter V—The Quid Obscurum of Battles
• Chapter VI—Four O’clock in the Afternoon
• Chapter VII—Napoleon in a Good Humor
• Chapter VIII—The Emperor Puts a Question to the Guide Lacoste
• Chapter IX—The Unexpected
• Chapter X—The Plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean
• Chapter XI—A Bad Guide to Napoleon; a Good Guide to Bülow
• Chapter XII—The Guard
• Chapter XIII—The Catastrophe
• Chapter XIV—The Last Square
• Chapter XV—Cambronne
• Chapter XVI—Quot Libras in Duce?
• Chapter XVII—Is Waterloo to Be Considered Good?
• Chapter XVIII—A Recrudescence of Divine Right
• Chapter XIX—The Battle-Field at Night
• Chapter I—Number 24,601 Becomes Number 9,430
• Chapter II—In Which the Reader Will Peruse Two Verses, Which Are of the Devil’s Composition, Possibly
• Chapter III—The Ankle-Chain Must Have Undergone a Certain Preparatory Manipulation to Be Thus Broken with a Blow from a Hammer
• Chapter I—The Water Question at Montfermeil
• Chapter II—Two Complete Portraits
• Chapter III—Men Must Have Wine, and Horses Must Have Water
• Chapter IV—Entrance on the Scene of a Doll
• Chapter V—The Little One All Alone
• Chapter VI—Which Possibly Proves Boulatruelle’s Intelligence
• Chapter VII—Cosette Side by Side with the Stranger in the Dark
• Chapter VIII—The Unpleasantness of Receiving Into One’s House a Poor Man Who May Be a Rich Man
• Chapter IX— Thénardier and His Maneuvers
• Chapter X—He Who Seeks to Better Himself May Render His Situation Worse
• Chapter XI—Number 9,430 Reappears, and Cosette Wins It in the Lottery
• Chapter I—Master Gorbeau
• Chapter II—A Nest for Owl and a Warbler
• Chapter III—Two Misfortunes Make One Piece of Good Fortune
• Chapter IV—The Remarks of the Principal Tenant
• Chapter V—A Five-Franc Piece Falls on the Ground and Produces a Tumult
• Chapter I—The Zigzags of Strategy
• Chapter II—It Is Lucky That the Pont D’austerlitz Bears Carriages
• Chapter III—To Wit, the Plan of Paris in 1727
• Chapter IV—The Gropings of Flight
• Chapter V—Which Would Be Impossible with Gas Lanterns
• Chapter VI—The Beginning of an Enigma
• Chapter VII—Continuation of the Enigma
• Chapter VIII—The Enigma Becomes Doubly Mysterious
• Chapter IX—The Man with the Bell
• Chapter X—Which Explains How Javert Got on the Scent
• Book Sixth—Le Petit-Picpus. Chapter I—Number 62 Rue Petit-Picpus
• Chapter II—The Obedience of Martin Verga
• Chapter III—Austerities
• Chapter IV—Gayeties
• Chapter V—Distractions
• Chapter VI—The Little Convent
• Chapter VII—Some Silhouettes of This Darkness
• Chapter VIII—Post Corda Lapides
• Chapter IX—A Century Under a Guimpe
• Chapter X—Origin of the Perpetual Adoration
• Chapter XI—End of the Petit-Picpus
• Book Seventh—Parenthesis. Chapter I—The Convent as an Abstract Idea
• Chapter II—The Convent as an Historical Fact
• Chapter III—On What Conditions One Can Respect the Past
• Chapter IV—The Convent from the Point of View of Principles
• Chapter V—Prayer
• Chapter VI—The Absolute Goodness of Prayer
• Chapter VII—Precautions to Be Observed in Blame
• Chapter VIII—Faith, Law
• Book Eighth—Cemeteries Take That Which Is Committed Them. Chapter I—Which Treats of the Manner of Entering a Convent
• Chapter II—Fauchelevent in the Presence of a Difficulty
• Chapter III—Mother Innocente
• Chapter IV—In Which Jean Valjean Has Quite the Air of Having Read Austin Castillejo
• Chapter V—It Is Not Necessary to Be Drunk in Order to Be Immortal
• Chapter VI—Between Four Planks
• Chapter VII—In Which Will Be Found the Origin of the Saying: Don’t Lose the Card
• Chapter VIII—A Successful Interrogatory
• Chapter IX—Cloistered
• Chapter I—Parvulus
• Chapter II—Some of His Particular Characteristics
• Chapter III—He Is Agreeable
• Chapter IV—He May Be of Use
• Chapter V—His Frontiers
• Chapter VI—A Bit of History
• Chapter VII—The Gamin Should Have His Place in the Classifications of India
• Chapter VIII—In Which the Reader Will Find a Charming Saying of the Last King
• Chapter IX—The Old Soul of Gaul
• Chapter X—Ecce Paris, Ecce Homo
• Chapter XI—To Scoff, to Reign
• Chapter XII—The Future Latent in the People
• Chapter XIII—Little Gavroche
• Chapter I—Ninety Years and Thirty-Two Teeth
• Chapter II—Like Master, Like House
• Chapter III—Luc-Esprit
• Chapter IV—A Centenarian Aspirant
• Chapter V—Basque and Nicolette
• Chapter VI—In Which Magnon and Her Two Children Are Seen
• Chapter VII—Rule: Receive No One Except in the Evening
• Chapter VIII—Two Do Not Make a Pair
• Chapter I—An Ancient Salon
• Chapter II—One of the Red Spectres of That Epoch
• Chapter III—Requiescant
• Chapter IV—End of the Brigand
• Chapter V—The Utility of Going to Mass, in Order to Become a Revolutionist
• Chapter VI—The Consequences of Having Met a Warden
• Chapter VII—Some Petticoat
• Chapter VIII—Marble Against Granite
• Chapter I—A Group Which Barely Missed Becoming Historic
• Chapter II—Blondeau’s Funeral Oration by Bossuet
• Chapter III—Marius’ Astonishments
• Chapter IV—The Back Room of the Café Musain
• Chapter V—Enlargement of Horizon
• Chapter VI—Res Angusta
• Chapter I—Marius Indigent
• Chapter II—Marius Poor
• Chapter III—Marius Grown Up
• Chapter IV—M. Mabeuf
• Chapter V—Poverty a Good Neighbor for Misery
• Chapter VI—The Substitute
• Book Sixth—The Conjunction of Two Stars. Chapter I—The Sobriquet: Mode of Formation of Family Names
• Chapter II—Lux Facta Est
• Chapter III—Effect of the Spring
• Chapter IV—Beginning of a Great Malady
• Chapter V—Divers Claps of Thunder Fall on Ma’am Bougon
• Chapter VI—Taken Prisoner
• Chapter VII—Adventures of the Letter U Delivered Over to Conjectures
• Chapter VIII—The Veterans Themselves Can Be Happy
• Chapter IX—Eclipse
• Book Seventh—Patron Minette. Chapter I—Mines and Miners
• Chapter II—The Lowest Depths
• Chapter III—Babet, Gueulemer, Claquesous, and Montparnasse
• Chapter IV—Composition of the Troupe
• Book Eighth—The Wicked Poor Man. Chapter I—Marius, While Seeking a Girl in a Bonnet, Encounters a Man in a Cap
• Chapter II—Treasure Trove
• Chapter III—Quadrifrons
• Chapter IV—A Rose in Misery
• Chapter V—A Providential Peep-Hole
• Chapter VI—The Wild Man in His Lair
• Maringo Austerlits Iena Wagramme Elot
• Chapter VII—Strategy and Tactics
• Chapter VIII—The Ray of Light in the Hovel
• Chapter IX—Jondrette Comes Near Weeping
• Chapter X—Tariff of Licensed Cabs: Two Francs an Hour
• Chapter XI—Offers of Service from Misery to Wretchedness
• Chapter XII—The Use Made of M. Leblanc’s Five-Franc Piece
• Chapter XIII—Solus Cum Solo, in Loco Remoto, Non Cogitabuntur Orare Pater Noster
• Chapter XIV—In Which a Police Agent Bestows Two Fistfuls on a Lawyer
• Chapter XV—Jondrette Makes His Purchases
• Chapter XVI—In Which Will Be Found the Words to an English Air Which Was in Fashion in 1832
• Chapter XVII—The Use Made of Marius’ Five-Franc Piece
• Chapter XVIII—Marius’ Two Chairs Form a Vis-A-Vis
• Chapter XIX—Occupying One’s Self with Obscure Depths
• Chapter XX—The Trap
• Chapter XXI—One Should Always Begin by Arresting the Victims
• Chapter XXII—The Little One Who Was Crying in Volume Two
• Chapter I—Well Cut
• Chapter II—Badly Sewed
• Chapter III—Louis Philippe
• Chapter IV—Cracks Beneath the Foundation
• Chapter V—Facts Whence History Springs and Which History Ignores
• Chapter VI—Enjolras and His Lieutenants
• Chapter I—The Lark’s Meadow
• Chapter II—Embryonic Formation of Crimes in the Incubation of Prisons
• Chapter III—Apparition to Father Mabeuf
• Chapter IV—An Apparition to Marius
• Chapter I—The House with a Secret
• Chapter II—Jean Valjean as a National Guard
• Chapter III—Foliis Ac Frondibus
• Chapter IV—Change of Gate
• Chapter V—The Rose Perceives That It Is an Engine of War
• Chapter VI—The Battle Begun
• Chapter VII—To One Sadness Oppose a Sadness and a Half
• Chapter VIII—The Chain-Gang
• Chapter I—A Wound Without, Healing Within
• Chapter II—Mother Plutarque Finds No Difficulty in Explaining a Phenomenon
• Chapter I—Solitude and the Barracks Combined
• Chapter II—Cosette’s Apprehensions
• Chapter III—Enriched with Commentaries by Toussaint
• Chapter IV—A Heart Beneath a Stone
• Chapter V—Cosette After the Letter
• Chapter VI—Old People Are Made to Go Out Opportunely
• Book Sixth—Little Gavroche. Chapter I—The Malicious Playfulness of the Wind
• Chapter II—In Which Little Gavroche Extracts Profit from Napoleon the Great
• Chapter III—The Vicissitudes of Flight
• Book Seventh—Slang. Chapter I—Origin
• Chapter II—Roots
• Chapter III—Slang Which Weeps and Slang Which Laughs
• Chapter IV—The Two Duties: To Watch and to Hope
• Book Eighth—Enchantments and Desolations. Chapter I—Full Light
• Chapter II—The Bewilderment of Perfect Happiness
• Chapter III—The Beginning of Shadow
• Chapter IV—A Cab Runs in English and Barks in Slang
• Chapter V—Things of the Night
• Chapter VI—Marius Becomes Practical Once More to the Extent of Giving Cosette His Address
• Chapter VII—The Old Heart and the Young Heart in the Presence of Each Other
• Book Ninth—Whither Are They Going? Chapter I—Jean Valjean
• Chapter II—Marius
• Chapter III—M. Mabeuf
• Book Tenth—The 5th of June, 1832. Chapter I—The Surface of the Question
• Chapter II—The Root of the Matter
• Chapter III—A Burial; an Occasion to Be Born Again
• Chapter IV—The Ebullitions of Former Days
• Chapter V—Originality of Paris
• Book Eleventh—The Atom Fraternizes with the Hurricane. Chapter I—Some Explanations with Regard to the Origin of…
• Chapter II—Gavroche on the March
• Chapter III—Just Indignation of a Hair-Dresser
• Chapter IV—The Child Is Amazed at the Old Man
• Chapter V—The Old Man
• Chapter VI—Recruits
• Book Twelfth—Corinthe. Chapter I—History of Corinthe from Its Foundation
• Chapter II—Preliminary Gayeties
• Chapter III—Night Begins to Descend Upon Grantaire
• Chapter IV—An Attempt to Console the Widow Hucheloup
• Chapter V—Preparations
• Chapter VI—Waiting
• Chapter VII—The Man Recruited in the Rue Des Billettes
• Chapter VIII—Many Interrogation Points with Regard to a Certain Le Cabuc Whose Name May Not Have Been Le Cabuc
• Book Thirteenth—Marius Enters the Shadow. Chapter I—From the Rue Plumet to the Quartier Saint-Denis
• Chapter II—An Owl’s View of Paris
• Chapter III—The Extreme Edge
• Book Fourteenth—The Grandeurs of Despair. Chapter I—The Flag: Act First
• Chapter II—The Flag: Act Second
• Chapter III—Gavroche Would Have Done Better to Accept Enjolras’ Carbine
• Chapter IV—The Barrel of Powder
• Chapter V—End of the Verses of Jean Prouvaire
• Chapter VI—The Agony of Death After the Agony of Life
• Chapter VII—Gavroche as a Profound Calculator of Distances
• Book Fifteenth—The Rue De L’homme Armé. Chapter I—A Drinker Is a Babbler
• Chapter II—The Street Urchin an Enemy of Light
• Chapter III—While Cosette and Toussaint Are Asleep
• Chapter IV—Gavroche’s Excess of Zeal
• Book First—The War Between Four Walls
• Chapter II—What Is to Be Done in the Abyss If One Does Not Converse
• Long Live the Peoples!
• Chapter III—Light and Shadow
• Chapter IV—Minus Five, Plus One
• Chapter V—The Horizon Which One Beholds from the Summit of a Barricade
• Chapter VI—Marius Haggard, Javert Laconic
• Chapter VII—The Situation Becomes Aggravated
• Chapter VIII—The Artillery-Men Compel People to Take Them Seriously
• Chapter IX—Employment of the Old Talents of a Poacher and That Infallible Marksmanship Which Influenced the Condemnation of 1796
• Chapter X—Dawn
• Chapter XI—The Shot Which Misses Nothing and Kills No One
• Chapter XII—Disorder a Partisan of Order
• Chapter XIII—Passing Gleams
• Chapter XIV—Wherein Will Appear the Name of Enjolras’ Mistress
• Chapter XV—Gavroche Outside
• Chapter XVI—How from a Brother One Becomes a Father
• Chapter XVII—Mortuus Pater Filium Moriturum Expectat
• Chapter XVIII—The Vulture Become Prey
• Chapter XIX—Jean Valjean Takes His Revenge
• Chapter XX—The Dead Are in the Right and the Living Are Not in the Wrong
• Chapter XXI—The Heroes
• Chapter XXII—Foot to Foot
• Chapter XXIII—Orestes Fasting and Pylades Drunk
• Chapter XXIV—Prisoner
• Chapter I—The Land Impoverished by the Sea
• Chapter II—Ancient History of the Sewer
• Chapter III—Bruneseau
• Chapter IV
• Chapter V—Present Progress
• Chapter VI—Future Progress
• Chapter I—The Sewer and Its Surprises
• Chapter II—Explanation
• Chapter III—The “Spun” Man
• Chapter IV—He Also Bears His Cross
• Chapter V—In the Case of Sand as in That of Woman, There Is a Fineness Which Is Treacherous
• Chapter VI—The Fontis
• Chapter VII—One Sometimes Runs Aground When One Fancies That One Is Disembarking
• Chapter VIII—The Torn Coat-Tail
• Chapter IX—Marius Produces on Some One Who Is a Judge of the Matter, the Effect of Being Dead
• Chapter X—Return of the Son Who Was Prodigal of His Life
• Chapter XI—Concussion in the Absolute
• Chapter XII—The Grandfather
• Chapter I
• Chapter I—In Which the Tree with the Zinc Plaster Appears Again
• Chapter II—Marius, Emerging from Civil War, Makes Ready for Domestic War
• Chapter III—Marius Attacked
• Chapter IV—Mademoiselle Gillenormand Ends by No Longer Thinking It a Bad Thing That M. Fauchelevent Should Have Entered with Something Under His Arm
• Chapter V—Deposit Your Money in a Forest Rather Than with a Notary
• Chapter VI—The Two Old Men Do Everything, Each One After His Own Fashion, to Render Cosette Happy
• Chapter VII—The Effects of Dreams Mingled with Happiness
• Chapter VIII—Two Men Impossible to Find
• Book Sixth—The Sleepless Night. Chapter I—The 16th of February, 1833
• Chapter II—Jean Valjean Still Wears His Arm in a Sling
• Chapter III—The Inseparable
• Chapter IV—The Immortal Liver
• Book Seventh—The Last Draught from the Cup. Chapter I—The Seventh Circle and the Eighth Heaven
• Chapter II—The Obscurities Which a Revelation Can Contain
• Book Eighth—Fading Away of the Twilight. Chapter I—The Lower Chamber
• Chapter II—Another Step Backwards
• Chapter III—They Recall the Garden of the Rue Plumet
• Chapter IV—Attraction and Extinction
• Book Ninth—Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn. Chapter I—Pity for the Unhappy, but Indulgence for the Happy
• Chapter II—Last Flickerings of a Lamp Without Oil
• Chapter III—A Pen Is Heavy to the Man Who Lifted the Fauchelevent’s Cart
• Chapter IV—A Bottle of Ink Which Only Succeeded in Whitening
• Chapter V—A Night Behind Which There Is Day
• Chapter VI—The Grass Covers and the Rain Effaces
• Letter to M. Daelli
• About the Author