Les Fleurs du mal
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| A posthumous third edition with a preface by [[Theophile Gautier|Théophile Gautier]] and including 14 previously unpublished poems was issued in [[1868]]. | A posthumous third edition with a preface by [[Theophile Gautier|Théophile Gautier]] and including 14 previously unpublished poems was issued in [[1868]]. | ||
| - | On [[February 4]] of 1857, Baudelaire sends some of its poems to his Belgian publisher [[Auguste Poulet-Malassis]]. On [[April 20]], the ''Revue française'' publishes nine poems. The first edition is of 300 copies, put on sale on [[June 23]]. ''Le Moniteur'' publishes on [[July 14]] an article by [[Édouard Thierry]]. | + | On [[February 4]] of 1857, Baudelaire sends some of its poems to his Belgian publisher [[Auguste Poulet-Malassis]]. On [[April 20]], the ''Revue française'' publishes nine poems. The first edition is of 300 copies, put on sale on [[June 25]]. ''Le Moniteur'' publishes on [[July 14]] an article by [[Édouard Thierry]]. |
| == Illustrators == | == Illustrators == | ||
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Les Fleurs du mal (literal trans. "The Flowers of Evil") is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. The poems represented the near-totality of his poetic output since 1840. First published in 1857, the poems were of influence to the symbolists and modernists. Their subject matter deals with themes relating to decadence and eroticism. A number of the poems were banned in France following an obscenity trial on August 20, 1857. Ernest Pinard, the magistrate who ruled the case had also been involved in the Madame Bovary trial.
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Initial publication
The initial publication of the book was arranged in five thematically segregated sections:
- Spleen et Idéal (Spleen and Ideal)
- Fleurs du mal (Flowers of Evil)
- Révolte (Revolt)
- Le Vin (Wine)
- La Mort (Death)
The foreword to the volume, blasphemously defining Satan as "thrice-great" and calling boredom the worst of miseries, neatly sets the general tone of what is to follow:
Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,
N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins
Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,
C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.
- If rape and poison, dagger and burning,
- Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
- On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
- It's because our souls, alas, are not bold enough!
The preface concludes with the following malediction:
C'est l'Ennui! —l'œil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,
Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.
Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,
—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!
- It's Ennui! — his eye brimming with spontaneous tear
- He dreams of the gallows in the haze of his hookah.
- You know him, reader, this delicate monster,
- Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!
"Ennui" is left untranslated here, as "boredom" does not accurately portray Baudelaire's intended meaning. "Ennui" means a boredom so pronounced as to lead to a violent depression.
The author and the publisher were prosecuted under the regime of the Second Empire as an outrage aux bonnes mœurs (trans. "an insult to public decency"). As a consequence of this prosecution, Baudelaire was fined 300 francs. Six poems from the work were suppressed and the ban on their publication was not lifted in France until 1949. These poems were "Lesbos", "Femmes damnés (À la pâle clarté)" (or "Women Doomed (In the pale glimmer...)"), "Le Léthé" (or "Lethe"), "À celle qui est trop gaie" (or "To She Who Is Too Gay"), "Les Bijoux" (or "The Jewels"), and " Les "Métamorphoses du Vampire" (or "The Vampire's Metamorphoses"). These were later published in Brussels in a small volume entitled Les Épaves (Scraps).
On the other hand, upon reading "The Swan" or "Le Cygne" from Les Fleurs du mal, Victor Hugo announced that Baudelaire had created "un nouveau frisson" (a new shudder, a new thrill) in literature.
Publication history
On June 1 1855, La Revue des Deux Mondes publishes under the title Fleurs du mal, eighteen poems by Baudelaire.
In the wake of the prosecution a second edition was issued in 1861 which added 32 new poems, removed the six suppressed poems and added a new section entitled Tableaux Parisiens.
A posthumous third edition with a preface by Théophile Gautier and including 14 previously unpublished poems was issued in 1868.
On February 4 of 1857, Baudelaire sends some of its poems to his Belgian publisher Auguste Poulet-Malassis. On April 20, the Revue française publishes nine poems. The first edition is of 300 copies, put on sale on June 25. Le Moniteur publishes on July 14 an article by Édouard Thierry.
Illustrators
A selection of illustrators who've illustrated The Flowers:
- Carlo Farneti, George-Roux, Grékoff, Hallman, Hauterives, Hofer, Janserge, Labocceta, Latour, Legrand, Lemagny, Lemengeot, Leroy, Manceaux, Marcel-Béronn, Mauplot, Monnier, Pipard, Redon, Riche, Rochegrosse, Rochgrosse, Rodin, Rodin (facs), Rops, Roubille, Saint-André, Sala, Schwabe, Serré, Spilimbergo, Trémois, Tzolakis, van Dongen [1]
See also
