Charles BAUDELAIRE – Autograph letter signed to Poulet Malassis.

Charles Baudelaire (1821.1867)

Autographed letter signed to Auguste Poulet Malassis.

Two octavo pages. Autograph address on the 4th^leaf , bearing a stamp and cancellation.

Bottom corner torn, without loss of text.

[Paris. May 18, 1860]

A beautiful letter about the printing of Artificial Paradises and its copies on large paper. Baudelaire also mentions the poems – which remained in Honfleur – to be inserted in the second edition of Flowers of Evil.

“My dear friend, you can sleep soundly; the discount was steep: 22, not counting the errands. The ticket was refused twice because of the number eleven, and then, like a fool, I went and broke my nose on Ascension Day.So that I can buy copies on paper, there have to be some available. Where are they? And here I was waiting for them, at least for Grandguillot (a serious matter). I'll go and get Les Fleurs after the Duranty affair, who now lives on Rue de Boulogne. From now on, my dear friend, you'll have to do as all publishers do : 1000 means 1100, 1500 means 1650 – you mustn't lose money on forced gifts. And this surplus, permitted by all custom, must be entirely devoted to unavoidable obligations. However, when the print run is 6000 (6600), I don't intend to give away 600 copies.” In my opinion, you should have foreseen this situation, and by doing as everyone else did, you could have avoided imposing an embarrassing economic situation on me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the chine ; but does that imply that I didn't have a Hollande ? I will try to keep it. I resign myself to the misfortune of Saint-Victor, Gaiffe, and Ducamp. But Janin and especially Grandguillot! Yours truly. See you soon. CB See the last line of the paragraph on page 14.