Charles Baudelaire - Autograph Letter Signed - Gustave Flaubert - The Flowers Of Evil - 1867
Artist: Charles Baudelaire
Autograph letter signed by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) to Théodore Ducessois, printer of the magazine L'Artiste and brother of Félicité Baudelaire. Provenance: Félicité Baudelaire estate. June 11, 1857. Half a page on a double octavo sheet with autograph address. Repair of the tear from opening the cover.
Size: 21 x 27 cm (sheets unfolded). Baudelaire takes up his pen here the day before the legal deposit of Les Fleurs du Mal, on June 12, 1857. The "copy" that Baudelaire promises to deliver is likely his article on Madame Bovary, the publication of which was delayed for several months; its length in L'Artiste is exactly eight columns, as Baudelaire specifies in the letter. The text was finally published on October 18, 1857. L'Artiste had previously published three poems from Les Fleurs du Mal shortly before our letter, on May 10, 1857: L'Héautontimoroumenos, L'Irrémédiable, and Francisca mea laudes.
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"I will send you half the copy at 2 o'clock, and I will mail you the end at dinnertime. Please let me know if this is fast enough. A total of approximately 8 columns. Ch. Baudelaire. I am sure of my punctuality. June 11, 1857."
[Address:] Quai des Augustins 55 to Monsieur Ducessois or to the person in charge of the layout of L'Artiste.
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"Anne-Félicité Baudelaire (1812-1902), née Ducessois, had married Baudelaire's half-brother, Alphonse, In April 1829, Baudelaire, very young, became infatuated with her. In 1846, at the age of 25, the poet set about courting his sister-in-law and sent her his *Choice of Comforting Maxims on Love* with a flirtatious, half-hearted letter in which he presented himself as "a supporter of Antony's love," in other words, adultery, and invited his half-brother's wife to "be [his] providence in the career that opens up to [him] through the channel of love…" (Corr., I, 134-135). For Claude Pichois, this was a "gently perverse game," even an "ironic revenge," aimed at embarrassing him and provoking his half-brother, who had approved his being placed under guardianship. Whether Baudelaire was in love with Félicité or not, he made her his muse, since she inspired a small "cycle" of three poems, recently studied by Andrea Schellino – and she is also considered to have served as the model for the character of Mme de Cosmelly in the novella La Fanfarlo, published in 1847. After Alphonse's death in 1862, Félicité reconnected with Caroline Aupick, who had settled in Honfleur. It was she who kept Charles Asselineau informed of Baudelaire's mother's health and then her death during the summer of 1871. She inherited part of Mme Aupick's estate in 1871, and in particular some personal documents and letters from Charles's youth, which were kept in her family after her death in 1902. (Source: Alde, notes on "Memories from Félicité Baudelaire")
Size: 21 x 27 cm (sheets unfolded). Baudelaire takes up his pen here the day before the legal deposit of Les Fleurs du Mal, on June 12, 1857. The "copy" that Baudelaire promises to deliver is likely his article on Madame Bovary, the publication of which was delayed for several months; its length in L'Artiste is exactly eight columns, as Baudelaire specifies in the letter. The text was finally published on October 18, 1857. L'Artiste had previously published three poems from Les Fleurs du Mal shortly before our letter, on May 10, 1857: L'Héautontimoroumenos, L'Irrémédiable, and Francisca mea laudes.
______________________________________
"I will send you half the copy at 2 o'clock, and I will mail you the end at dinnertime. Please let me know if this is fast enough. A total of approximately 8 columns. Ch. Baudelaire. I am sure of my punctuality. June 11, 1857."
[Address:] Quai des Augustins 55 to Monsieur Ducessois or to the person in charge of the layout of L'Artiste.
______________________________________
"Anne-Félicité Baudelaire (1812-1902), née Ducessois, had married Baudelaire's half-brother, Alphonse, In April 1829, Baudelaire, very young, became infatuated with her. In 1846, at the age of 25, the poet set about courting his sister-in-law and sent her his *Choice of Comforting Maxims on Love* with a flirtatious, half-hearted letter in which he presented himself as "a supporter of Antony's love," in other words, adultery, and invited his half-brother's wife to "be [his] providence in the career that opens up to [him] through the channel of love…" (Corr., I, 134-135). For Claude Pichois, this was a "gently perverse game," even an "ironic revenge," aimed at embarrassing him and provoking his half-brother, who had approved his being placed under guardianship. Whether Baudelaire was in love with Félicité or not, he made her his muse, since she inspired a small "cycle" of three poems, recently studied by Andrea Schellino – and she is also considered to have served as the model for the character of Mme de Cosmelly in the novella La Fanfarlo, published in 1847. After Alphonse's death in 1862, Félicité reconnected with Caroline Aupick, who had settled in Honfleur. It was she who kept Charles Asselineau informed of Baudelaire's mother's health and then her death during the summer of 1871. She inherited part of Mme Aupick's estate in 1871, and in particular some personal documents and letters from Charles's youth, which were kept in her family after her death in 1902. (Source: Alde, notes on "Memories from Félicité Baudelaire")
3 000 €
Period: 19th century
Style: Napoleon 3rd
Condition: Good condition
Width: 21 cm
Height: 27 cm
Reference (ID): 1730404
Availability: In stock
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