Overview

"Ursus was a man, Homo a wolf" the former a travelling mountebank, the latter his faithful companion. Gwynplaine was abducted as an infant, and cruelly mutilated so that his face shows the permanent smile of a clown. Abandoned by his abductors some years later, Gwynplaine rescues a blind baby girl from the frozen corpse of her mother at the foot of a gibbet. Time passes, and the young girl - christened Dea - comes to love Gwynplaine. Being blind, she is unaware of his disfigurement, but from passing her fingers over his face, assumes that he is always happy. Ursus and Homo meet up with Gwynplaine and Dea, and travel around England performing at funfairs. After some vicissitudes, Gwynplaine is, surprisingly, summoned to the court of Queen Anne, where it is revealed that he is in fact the missing heir of the murdered Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie, Marquis of Corleone. He is, accordingly, installed as an English peer; but when he addresses the House of Lords is ridiculed for his clownish features. He renounces his peerage and rejoins his companions, who resolve to abandon England forever. During the voyage, while Ursus sleeps, Dea reveals to Gwynplaine her secret passion for him, then dies. Gwynplaine drowns himself. Victor Hugo's gothic tale has been the inspiration of numerous plays, films (the first in 1909) novels and short stories. Following a distinguished career as a civil servant, James Hogarth acquired a reputation as a versatile and punctilious translator. His translations span travel guides, archaeological texts, and novels. In 2002 he won the French-American Foundation Translation Prize for his English translation of Victor Hugo's Travailleurs de la Mer. He died in 2006.
ISBN-13

9781904999843

ISBN-10

1904999840

Weight

1.55 Pounds

Dimensions

6.50 x 1.25 x 9.50 In

List Price

$29.50

Format

Paperback

Pages

484 pages

Publisher

Kennedy & Boyd

Published On

2008-10-01


View All Offers

Sort by:

Rows per page:

1–5 of 5

Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
✨ Brand New
Seller details
Alibris
★★★★★

Sparks, NV, USA

Print on demand Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 484 p.
$27.89

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026

Brand New
Seller details
GreatBookPrices-
★★★★☆

Columbia, MD, USA

100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition. We offer expedited shipping to all US locat...
$35.95

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026

Brand New
Seller details
Paperbackshop
★★★★★

Bensenville, IL, USA

New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot of...
$35.96

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026

Used, Good
Seller details
Bonita
★★★★☆

Santa Clarita, CA, USA

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
$54.63

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026

Brand New
Seller details
Bonita
★★★★☆

Santa Clarita, CA, USA

$82.23

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026


Bookstores.com relies on cookies to improve your experience.