Autograph letter signed ("C. B.").
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium.
€ 12.500,00
To his publisher Eugène de Broise, transmitting a caption for his portrait by Félix Bracquemond that was to be sent to the journalist Arsène Houssaye together with the permission to print the portrait as part of the advertising campaign for the second edtion of "Les Fleurs du mal": "Note pour M. De Broise, pour être remise à M. Arsène Houssaye, en même temps que l'autorisation de tirage du portrait de Bracquemond. 'Le portrait de Charles Baudelaire que nous offrons à nos abonnés, dessiné et gravé par M. Bracquemond, orne la deuxième édition des Fleurs du Mal, qui vient de paraître à la librairie Malassis et De Broise, augmentée de trente cinq poëmes nouveaux'. De plus, il faut penser à ceci, c'est que le portrait n'est pas accompagné du nom, et que si c'est inutile pour le volume, c'est indispensable pour le journal. M. Arsène Houssaye arrangera d'ailleurs la réclame à sa guise".
The artist Félix Bracquemond (1833-1914), a close friend of Eugène de Broise's better known co-publisher Auguste Poulet-Malassis, originally suggested an allegorical frontispiece for the second edition of "Les Fleurs du mal". Baudelaire rejected Bracquemond's allegorical etching and was instead portrayed. The publications of Baudelaire's chef-d'œuvre caused major scandals. In 1857, the first edition was partly censored and both Baudelaire and his editor were later fined for offending public moral. As a result of the scandals, the publishing house had to file bankruptcy in 1862. Poulet-Malassis was briefly imprisoned due to his debt and subsequently went to Belgium. Nevertheless, he tirelessly continued to publish the works of Baudelaire and other scandalous texts.
With severals stains, some browning, and a small missing corner (not affecting the text).
