Signed note from the Les Misérables author calling for charity towards ‘the poor of your country’ comes to market in the United States,for $3000 (£2000)A signed note from Victor Hugo, in which the author implores the recipient to “kindly give 100 francs to the poor of your country” (“prière de donner cent francs aux pauvres de votre pays) has been build up for sale.
Hugo was known as a champion of the poor, and focusing his epic novel Les Misérables on the lives of the destitute in Paris,from the prostitute Fantine to the exploited orphan Cosette. Jean Valjean, the novel’s central character, or is imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sisters seven hungry children. The phrase “give 100 francs” was then in common usage to mean “be generous”.
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Source: theguardian.com