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24 - Baudelaire (Charles) *Les Fleurs du mal*.
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Estimate €9,000 - €12,000
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Description
Baudelaire (Charles) *Les Fleurs du mal*. Alençon, published by Poulet-Malassis and de Broise, 1857. 1 volume, small 8vo in a case edged with red morocco, later binding in full red morocco, ribbed spine with author’s name, title and date in gold, all edges gilt. Inside covers in navy blue morocco, with gilt fillets on the edges (Huser binding). Spine slightly sun-faded. Both covers are preserved. Front cover skilfully restored at the bottom right-hand corner. Spine preserved and lined with Japanese paper, with a small loss at the foot. Cover in 4th condition; on the back cover, the errors have been corrected; *Les Fleurs du mal* is listed in the ‘Bibliothèque moderne’ section, and the price stated on the spine is 3 francs. The error in the word ‘s’enhardissant’ on page 12 has been corrected. Printed on unlined high-quality paper; the leaves measure 191 mm by 119 mm, the margins are generous, the leaves are clean with very few pinholes; a few more distinct pinholes are visible on the damaged sections which have been repaired and mounted on tabs. The history of this copy is unusual: at the beginning of the volume, three leaves were bound together, two of which were handwritten. It is stated that this copy was one of some 200 copies from which the condemned pages had been removed, and which therefore includes the tabs and replacement leaves following the ‘mutilation’ or, to use Baudelaire’s expression, ‘the ridiculous surgical intervention’, that is to say, the removal of the six pieces condemned by the courts in 1857 and deemed immoral, namely: *Lesbos*. *Damned Women*. *Delphine and Hippolyte*. *The Lethe*. *To the One Who Is Too Cheerful*. *The Jewels*. The Metamorphoses of the Vampire. It goes on to state that in 1950, thanks to the kindness of Mr Henri Martineau, a renowned Stendhal scholar (who played a major role in establishing the Stendhal edition in the Pléiade series), who had, since 1920, owned one of the two collections of pages removed in 1857 and held at the Alençon prefecture, it was possible to reconstruct this copy. The omitted pages have been reinserted in their original places on the existing tabs, and the replacement leaves have been retained and bound at the end of the volume, after the table of contents. Collated and complete copy: half-title, title page, 247 pp. 2 ff. Table of contents. A copy containing the usual typographical errors: ‘feurs’ instead of ‘fleurs’ on pages 31 and 108; page 45 erroneously marked as 44; and ‘captieux’ instead of ‘capiteux’ on page 201. A very fine copy, unique for its history.
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About the sale Antique and modern books
Auction location
Auction time 10/26/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures modified on 10/09/2026 at 4:14 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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