Victor Hugo THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME * Mint ICL Ed!

The International Collectors Library was a publishing from the late 1940s through the early 1960s (and briefly revived in the 1970s), dedicated to preserving "immortal masterworks of the past and significant books of our time...the great classics of fiction, history, biography, poetry, drama, travel, and adventure...clothed in bindings truly worthy of their imperishable contents."

These ICL books are of exceptional style and quality in cover design, paper, and printing. The covers are leather-like with gilt designs, adaptations of historic bindings designed by some of the great artisans of centuries past, often for the collections of monarchs or other notables. The paper is heavier than in most other books; many of the volumes have gold-coated page edges. Each book has a silk marking ribbon.

This volume is bound in ICL's "Victorian Replica" binding, an exceptionally beautiful medium brown (cocoa, as in hot chocolate) color with 24K gold stamped title and stylized floral design on the cover. The binding design is based on an original created for the Sonnets of William Shakespeare by Sarah T. Prideaux (yes, a woman!) in the late 19th century. The book measures about 8-1/2" x 5-3/4" and has 407 pages.

This copy is in excellent condition, with only minor cover wear (mostly rubbing at the corners of the spine) and no damage at all to the endpapers or pages. There is no copyright date, but most of the ICL series were published in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It has spent the last half-dozen years in a smoke-free and pet-free home; before that I can’t be sure but there is no tell-tale odor..

Victor Hugo was for fifty years the most famous and influential figure of Continental (European, excepting England) literature, a novelist, dramatist, and poet. His two most famous novels are The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables, also offered by AllTheRightBooks this week in a matching binding (and also in another binding). Probably everyone living has seen at least one of the film or TV versions of Victor Hugo's moving story of medieval Paris, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It has been a hugely popular novel ever since its publication in the 1830s (one source says 1831, another 1837). Set in medieval Paris, it tells the story of a beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda, who has been condemned to death as a witch by the archdeacon Claude Frollo, who secretly desires her. Quasimodo, the hunch-backed (and deaf) bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, who is also in love with the kindhearted Esmeralda, tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral's tower. Things get even more complicated when a crowd of Parisian peasants, misunderstanding Quasimodo's motives, attacks the church in an attempt to liberate Esmerelda.

Maybe you read The Hunchback of Notre Dame in high school or college, maybe you even have a beat-up paperback copy somewhere...maybe you saw the one of the several movie versions (how could you miss???) and always meant to read the original, but never got around to it...maybe you're homeschooling a young person and would like to introduce him or her to this classic of French literature -- and the heroic novel -- ..or you know someone who would just love to have it for Christmas...Whatever the reason, now is your time and this is your chance to own a beautiful edition at a very reasonable eBay price!!!!

The Nitty-Gritty: Please Read The Following Carefully!!!!!
First, please understand that shipping costs include not just postage but also secure packaging. Old books can be fragile, and the USPS isn’t always gentle with packages. I use commercial-grade bubble envelopes and (because the envelopes are inadequate if a heavy package is dropped on top of them) additional bubble-wrap to protect the book itself. With multi-item purchases I use new or recycled boxes and whatever bubble wrap or filler is needed to prevent your items from shifting around and breaking each other’s hinges.

Payment from both U.S. and international buyers now accepted by PayPal ONLY. This is now an eBay requirement, not my idea; frankly, I don’t like it either. After seven days, if I have not heard from you, I will begin the Non-Paying Bidder process, but you will still have another three days to pay. In all cases, however, payment must be received within 10 days.
If you’re buying two or more items, or planning to bid on other items, PLEASE don’t pay for items individually!!!! When you’re finished (with current listings, anyway), I will send you an invoice with the correct shipping charges. If you’re waiting to snipe something else, please let me know and I’ll delay the invoice until you’ve bid to your heart’s content!

Shipping: 90% of U.S. book buyers prefer shipping via Media Mail (it’s slower -- 5-9 business days – in practice that’s 1-2 weeks -- depending on distance but much cheaper than Priority Mail). Single-item Media Mail shipping charges are stated in the information at the top of the listing page. eBay now requires that fixed-price shipping rates not exceed $4.00, which is fine for smaller books but doesn’t allow for those packing materials on larger or heavier items (this is ridiculously unfair, but never mind…) Anyway, for that reason I have adopted the calculated shipping charge system, even though it may actually end up costing you more. If I can save you money by using my standard fixed rate, I will offer that option on the invoice.
Shipping for Multiple Item Purchases (via Media Mail) is calculated as follows: charge as indicated (again, eBay is forcing me to switch to the calculated charges) for the heaviest item; then $1.00 each for the second and third item and $0.50 each for items in excess of four. I cannot ship more than 10 books together because of weight – if I can’t lift the box, I can’t get it to the post office!! – so really big purchases will have to be split in two.
Shipping by Priority Mail: Individual item charges will be based on weight, but if a Flat Rate box will save you money I will use it instead, even for just one book.
Multi-Item Purchases: If I can fit your purchase into a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box, the charge will be $10.00 anywhere in the U.S. (The boxes hold up to six books, seldom more.) If a larger package is necessary I’ll have to calculate shipping charges by total weight and send you an invoice.
International Shipping: Please email me for rates for your country. I offer a choice of Priority Mail International (fast but expensive) or First Class International (a slightly slower but less expensive option, but good only up to 4 lbs.); the USPS no longer offers “Surface Mail.” Your invoice will state the anticipated shipping times for both categories. International rates are adjusted per quarter-pound, but the eBay calculator shows only FULL pound charges, so may overstate your cost. International shipping also includes a $2.00 handling charge (I have to make a special trip to the post office, fill out forms, etc.).

I make every effort to mail within 3-4 days of payment. If you need the item by a certain date, TELL ME (I don’t read minds very well), and I’ll do everything I can to get it to you in time (please be realistic: cross-country Media Mail will not reach you in three days!). I try to notify buyers when I ship, but sometimes don’t get the notices out the same day.

Please respond to end-of-auction email with payment intentions as soon as possible; seller cannot schedule mailings without knowing when and how buyers are planning to pay. Non-payers and very slow payers (who don’t contact me to tell me they’ll be slow) will face a Non-Paying Bidder report exactly one week from the end of the auction. So if you’re somehow not going to have computer access when the auction ends, email me ahead of time just in case you win!!!!!! And if you receive a "polite reminder" of late payment, check your PayPal record to see if maybe you thought you'd paid but hadn't!!!!

See my other listings -- click on "Seller's Other Auctions" above. Buy more than one item and save on shipping. I will combine books with other items where feasible, but Media Mail is good only for books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, and other "media."

Feedback: In order to be sure you are satisfied with your purchase, I usually delay leaving feedback until I have heard from you. So if you don’t see my feedback right after the sale, that’s why. When you receive the item, email me if you have any problems or complaints (and give me a chance to resolve them); or just leave FB and I will do the same.

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