Book Resources

Notes and Variants

Notes, variants, outtakes, deleted scenes, draft material, snippets, fragments, call them what you will. These have been compiled from Maurice Allem's annotated version of the book, which includes a great number of them in the footnotes. I've tried to translate them wherever possible, but a great deal of my French is self-taught and there are bound to be inaccuracies. Feel free to send me angry emails pointing them out if you find them.

The abandoned quarry: on the day of the émeute, the Amis rendezvous in an old stone quarry and run into Patron-Minette. In French with English translation.
Further adventures of M. Tholomyès: involving a wealthy heiress, a touchy family, a scheming widow, and a baby Cosette. In French with English translation.
On prostitution: A lengthy digression--on prostitution and general misery--that would originally have appeared in Volume Three: Marius, Book Seven: Patron-Minette, chapters IV-XI. In French. [One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven]
Notes on Javert: A few short passages concerning our dear Inspector that never made it to the final draft. In French with English translation.
Rantings of M. Gillenormand: Grandpapa's rant when Marius' "dead" body is returned to his house, extended. Or moved to the section on Théodule? You decide. In French.
Fragments: Hugo's original names for several characters, some early sketches of the Amis. In French with English translation.
The songs of Gavroche: Alternate versions and inspirations for Gavroche's songs. In French.
Street names: The present-day versions of many of the Paris streets mentioned in the book. In English.

Historical Revolutionary Organizations

Hugo based the Société des Amis de l'ABC on a real republican group that existed at roughly the same period, the Société des Amis du Peuple, or Friends of the People. Reproduced below are several articles and pamphlets published by the Society, miscellaneous bits and pieces relating to the insurrection of 1832, and excerpts from Jill Harsin's Barricades: The War of the Streets in Revolutionary Paris, 1830-1848. Most of the primary sources in this section are from Vol. 2 of a collection entitled Les Révolutions du XIX^e siècle.

A l'opinion publique: Article in defense of the émeutes of June 1831. In French with English translation.
Lettre d'un étudiant: An anonymous letter from a student in defense of Robespierre, Saint-Just, and the Terror, and in condemnation of the aristocracy. In French.
Manifeste de la Société des Amis du Peuple: As the title says, the manifesto of the Society. Contains a detailed explanation of the events of the 1830 revolution and the Amis' communication with the newly-formed government. In French.
La Pologne est morte; à notre tour!: Article in an October 1831 pamphlet, decrying the suppression of the revolution in Poland. In French.
Acte d'accusation et mise en jugement: The government's notice of the arrests of several insurgents from the June 1832 insurrection--yes, the one in the book--especially from the barricade at Saint-Merry. In French.
The Amis du Peuple and France's Judicial System: From Harsin, detailing the legal persecution of the Amis and several noteworthy trials. In English.
5 and 6 June, 1832: From Harsin, a nice overview of the émeutes of 1832 and their aftermath. In English.

Parisian Geography

Legible, digital maps of Paris in the 1820s and 30s are hard to come by, which is a shame because the Paris of Les Misérables was a very different place from the Paris of today. Some places have been demolished, especially in Haussmann's reconstructions in the 1850s; others have been renamed; others still exist but are difficult to find. In this section are a handful of maps of varying degrees of legibility, plus some information and a few off-site resources.

Map of Paris (1843): Very large, very neat to look at, contains the whole city. Pity the text is too small to read in most cases. 2768 x 1596.
Map of Paris (1839): Less attractive but more functional--if you know what you're looking for, you can usually read the street names. In PDF format; zoom in until you can read it. Trust me, it's way too big to be an image.
"Insurrectionary quarter" of Paris, 1849: A fragment, showing the area surrounding the rue Saint-Denis. Slightly blurry but legible. Site of the barricade is highlighted in red. 768 x 1024.
Rue de la Chanvrerie: Unknown date. Closeup of the immediate area surrounding the barricade, quite easy to read. 380 x 430.
Street names: The modern-day street names of places that still exist in present-day Paris. From Allem, same as in the first section of this page.
Rue Mondétour, vue prise de la rue Rambuteau: A photograph of the site of the barricade as it existed in 1907, after the rue de la Chanvrerie was destroyed and replaced by the rue Rambuteau. 512 x 728.
Rue Mondétour, entre la rue de la Grande Truanderie et la rue Pirouette: Another segment of the rue Mondétour near where the barricade would have been. It might be helpful to consult the closeup map of the area to visualize where this is. 728 x 512.
Cartographie de Paris et de sa banlieue: An excellent site which contains many maps of Paris through the ages.
Historic maps, searchable by street name: A subdivision of the above site that lets you input a street name to see close-ups of it on seven maps from 1705 to the late 19th century. The search itself is a little buggy and doesn't always turn up results, but the concept of a 19th century Mapquest is too cool to pass up.
Nomenclature des voies database: Reliable, fully searchable statistics on every single street in modern Paris, including their histories and former names. In French, but would probably be useable by anyone with Babelfish and a French dictionary.

Supplements to the Student Edition

The final volume of the Pocket Classiques edition of the novel--yes, the French version available on Amazon with the hideous orange covers--contains a grab bag of supplemental material for students. Some of it is boring, outdated, or stuff you might already know; some of it is interesting, useful, or just plain funny.

Timeline: Presented as a chart with character birthdates and important events of the novel, side-by-side with relevant points of history.[French] [English]
Units of measure: Currencies and measures of size in early 19th century France and their modern equivalents. In French with English translation.
Lettre de M. Francis de Miollis: Mgr de Miollis was an actual bishop of Digne who was the inspiration for Mgr Myriel; his nephew, Francis de Miollis, was shocked and insulted because this thinly-veiled depiction of his uncle wasn't saintly enough. In French with English translation. Must be read to be believed.