Notre-Dame de Paris

Description

Notre-Dame de Paris, or, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, is a book by French author Victor Hugo, first published in 1831. A gothic novel set in Paris in 1482 that tells the story of the beautiful Esmeralda and the many men who are interested in her. These include Captain Phoebus and Pierre Gringoire, Archdeacon Claude Frollo, and the bellringer Quasimodo. Frollo, in his lust for Esmeralda, causes all manner of tragedy to befall her suitors, but the biggest tragedy lies in wait for Esmeralda herself. The title of the book gives a nod to the fact that Hugo was upset at the disrepair the Notre-Dame cathedral had fallen into - and indeed, architecture and the cathedral are the most important aspects of the book. This importance was undermined slightly when the first translation came out and the translated title shifted focus onto Quasimodo. Another important aspect of Notre-Dame de Paris, is the way it shows the whole of Parisian life - everyone from paupers to the King. The book was so popular when it was first published that it led to a movement aimed at preserving historical buildings.

Part of Anne Haight's List of Banned Books.

Part of the Harvard Classics set.

This book has 184,410 words, 354 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1831. This translation by Isabel F. Hapgood was first published in 1888.

Production notes: This ebook of Notre-Dame de Paris was published by Global Grey on the 18th June 2018, and updated on the 6th September 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'Notre Dame Seen from the Quai de la Tournelle' by Jean-François Raffaëlli.