Flowers of Evil – Charles Baudelaire
VG/VG Bilingual Edition

For sale: a rare and exceptional revised hardcover edition, second printing of Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire. Revised Edition stated, 1963 New Directions. Second Printing stated and undated.  Edited by Marthiel and Jackson Mathews.

The book is in Very Good condition with clean, cloth boards with mild fading at the edges, strong title gilt on a concave spine, lightly foxed page blocks, tight binding, mild spine tilt, rolled spine ends, mild edge wear, and two lightly bumped corners. The interior of the book is also in Very Good condition with moderate to heavy foxing on both end papers. No other marks, inscriptions, or signs of ownership. The interior pages are clean and lightly toned, making it an excellent addition to any collection.

The dust jacket is in Very Good condition with mild surface wear, heavy edge wear, chips and gaps; and the price on the front flap. Looks great in an archival wrap.

The greatest French poet of the 19th century, Charles Baudelaire was also the first truly modem poet, and his direct and indirect influence on the literature of our time has been immeasurable. Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal, which in successive editions contained all of his published poems, has opened new vistas for man’s imagination and quickened the sensibilities of poets everywhere.

Flowers of Evil contains the poems which the editors feel best represent the total work and which have been most successfully rendered into English. The French texts as established for the Pléiade edition are printed in full following the English translations. Also included are Baudelaire’s “Three Drafts of a Preface” and brief notes on the nineteen translators whose work is represented.