Bug Jargal, 1826
Original title: Bug Jargal
The first draft of Bug Jargal was written as early as 1818. Hugo's older brother Abel, held monthly literary dinners for Victor and some other boys, at which they read their writings. It was for one of these dinners that Hugo in three weeks wrote the story about a slave uprising in San Domingo. It was inspired by stories of Toussaint Louverture and the liberation of Haiti, and it was the first time a European novel had a black hero, the leader of the revolt.
Bug Jargal was first published as a serial in Le Conservateur Littéraire in the summer of 1820. Hugo improved and expanded it in 1825 and a year later it was published as a novel.
Hugo became something of a national hero in Haiti and he corresponded with the President as well as a newspaper editor