influence of Hugo's latest ideas and most recent works, created with the same dash and fire and in a sort of magma of inspiration: a mixture of poesy, mysticism and philosophy which is characteristic of Hugo's first decade of exile. This inspiration normally led him to write a large number of poems, more or less brief, which would finally be published as components in projects which were constantly shifting and evolving. In this case Hugo integrated the little epics into his poetical system by casting them as the "human" panel in a triptych of which "God" and "Satan" were the wings, with the implication that they were merely sparse fragments stolen from a greater epic: the whole of human experience itself. On 11 September 1857 Hugo signed a contract with Hetzel, reserving the right to alter the project's title. Later, Hetzel pronounced himself willing to publish La Fin de Satan and Dieu; but Hugo, perhaps conscious of the difficulties of completing either to his satisfaction, had by that time thrown himself entirely into the new project. He began by taking the French Revolution as the turning point in human history, intending to use a poem entitled La Révolution as a pivot around which La Pitié Suprême or Le Verso de la page would revolve. More titles were written down, but some were discarded or greatly altered, and the section dealing with the 19th century coalesced as L'Océan — La Révolution — le Verso de la page — la Pitié Suprême — Les Pauvres Gens — L'épopée de l'Âne. Hetzel followed this evolution with alarm, and, fearing that the great philosophical questions would turn these little epics into towering giants, endeavoured to temper Hugo's ardour. After a serious illness in the summer of 1858, Hugo tried to reassure Hetzel by writing in a more straightforwardly narrative vein (e.g. Le Petit Roi de Galice and Zim-Zizimi), and modified his plans—but retained the general ambition, which he declared in a preface. He had hit on the idea of publishing in several instalments, to give himself more time and space within which to work. The title was not decided on until a month after the manuscript's submission. With his gift for phrases, Hugo came up with La Légende des Siècles. Petites Épopées was kept as a subtitle. First Series The first series was published in two volumes on 26 September 1859 (see 1859 in