In private, his refuge was drawing. Hugo’s ink and wash visions of imaginary castles, monsters and seascapes are as poetic as his writing. His works inspired Romantic and Symbolist poets, and many ...

Writing and drawing feel effortless, even with light pressure. It may not perfectly replicate the feel of pen on paper, but it comes very close and offers a different, equally satisfying experience.

For all his compulsion to elicit a public reaction from just about everything he did, Hugo never exhibited his drawings, barely allowing anyone beyond his family and circle of intimate friends to ...