Charles BAUDELAIRE embarks on correcting his proofs on opium.

Charles Baudelaire (1821.1867)

Autographed letter signed to Alphonse de Calonne.

Half a page in-8°.

[Paris. December 20, 1859?]

Pléiade Correspondence. Volume I, page 642.

« You know that I like to meditate for a few hours on trials. » 

Charles Baudelaire urgently requested the proofs of The Opium Eater in order to work on it after taking the time to meditate on his work.

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 "My dear friend, All things considered, I renounce the publication of the three lost poems.

My tests as soon as possible.

You know that I like to meditate for a few hours on trials.

Yours truly, Ch. Baudelaire

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In 1859, Baudelaire was simultaneously immersed in several projects: the recomposition of Les Fleurs du mal, the preparation of new poems, but also the extremely heavy work of Les Paradis artificiels, which would be published in 1860.

The "three lost poems" mentioned by Baudelaire are To a Madonna, The Swan and The Skeleton Ploughman and the trials on which he wishes to meditate are those ofAn Opium Eater, his adaptation-translation of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .

This short letter reveals all of Baudelaire's epistolary and poetic artistry: an abrupt decision accompanied by an almost anxious demand for the work to be done. Clearly, one immediately thinks of the proofs of Les Fleurs du Mal, , on which the poet had worked so hard in 1857.