The year 2025 marks the 170th anniversary of the expulsion of Victor Hugo and his family from the island of Jersey in 1855.
To commemorate this occasion, the Lord Coutanche Library has recently acquired the fourth volume of Le Journal d’Adèle Hugo, covering the year 1855. This volume completes the collection which already includes the first three volumes, spanning the years 1852 to 1854.
The coup d’état carried out by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte on 2 December 1851 signalled the end of the Second Republic and precipitated the exile of Victor Hugo to Jersey, where he arrived in August 1852. His youngest daughter, Adèle, then aged 22, left behind her Parisian life to accompany the family. Under the guidance of her father—at once affectionate and unyielding—Adèle, often described as the “memorialist of exile,” meticulously documented the daily events and the range of conversations, from the light-hearted to the deeply reflective, that characterised the Hugo household.
Her journal provides insight into the literary, intellectual, and domestic life of the family in exile: references to prominent contemporaries, and early ideas behind Victor Hugo’s masterpieces, as well as the simple, familiar joy of being together.
The first volume covers entries from March to December 1852, spanning the period just before exile and the family’s early days in Jersey.
The year 1855 marks a turning point, as the Hugo family—along with several other political exiles—was expelled from Jersey and relocated to Guernsey, where they would remain for the duration of their exile.
These volumes, written in French, are available for consultation at the Lord Coutanche Library.
