[HUGO, Victor]. - Lot 56

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Lot n° 56
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[HUGO, Victor]. - Lot 56
[HUGO, Victor]. L.A.S. of a man named "A. Vuillaud, to his parents. Paris, June 2, 1885. 5 pp. ½ petit in-8. A long and fascinating letter from a young man who attended Victor Hugo's state funeral the day before, June 1, 1885. "Dear Parents. Yesterday was the great day of mourning for Paris; Victor Hugo's body was being transported to the Pantheon. It is impossible to tell you how crowded it was, every able-bodied person was on his feet; we estimated the number of curious people at 2 million and the procession at 1 million, which means that all of Paris was attending the funeral. There was no counting of the number of people crushed because of the crowd that formed mainly at the intersection of the streets. It was necessary to maintain the crowd at certain times to have it pushed back by the municipal officials on horseback and manually, as by using this procedure one is sure to have the place clear, the people pushed back being piled up on those placed behind them, it followed quite a few fainting spells for the women and crushed feet for both sexes. To sum up my impressions I would say that it was splendid; I don't think that a funeral like this has ever been held before, or that one has ever held a funeral for any character. There could be more pomp and circumstance, for example, instead of the hearse of the finery, the magnificent chariot like Gambetta's, but never so many people, flowers, and such lively enthusiasm. The head of the procession left the Arc de Triomphe at 11 o'clock and the tail did not arrive at the Pantheon until 7 o'clock. They calculated how much money was spent on the wreaths and estimated it at 4 million, as well as beautiful flowers and splendid wreaths, there were some that measured up to 8 meters in diameter. It was really magical, however I found that at times it was a bit cavalcade-like; I did not approve of, for example, the applause of the crowd for certain groups; I understand that one admires but not marks of enthusiasm that are more than
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