[BOIS (engraving) - HUGO (Victor)]. Portrait of Victor Hugo seated. S.l., 1879. - Wood engraving 425 x 322 mm, bleached with ceruse white. Imposing woodcut matrix depicting Victor Hugo seated full face, engraved by Paul Bernard Valette (1851-1880) whose signature appears lower left, after the portrait of the writer painted by Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat in 1879. The work consists of twelve blocks carefully assembled in three rows of four. The first two rows have blocks measuring around 125 x 85 mm, while those in the last row are longer, measuring 180 x 85 mm. This portrait was published in Le Monde illustré (no. 1166, 2 August 1879), where it occupied a double-page spread with the caption: "Victor Hugo // Painting by M. Bonnat // Engraving by M. Vallette, based on a photograph by M. Braun." The note on the reverse reads: "Victor Hugo d'après Bonnat Salon de 1879". A deliberate notch has been made at the top of the matrix, rendering it unusable for future prints. This practice, common in the world of engraving, prevented any unauthorised re-use of the original plate.