Victor Hugo's Les Miserables

Young Cosette sweeping: 1862 drawing for Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. French illustrator Émile Bayard drew this sketch of Cosette for the first edition. It has become emblematic of the entire story, being used in promotional art for various versions of the musical. Date: 1862.

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because it's copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, in this case 1890, are now in the public domain.

This image is also in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case, Émile-Antoine Bayard (1837-1891), and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from the last day of that year. +sookie tex

Victor Hugo's Les Miserables the novel is usually referred to by its original French title, which can be translated from the French as The Miserables, The Wretched, The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims. Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, focusing on the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.