The Flowers of Evil and Paris Spleen

Upon its original publication in 1857 Charles Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal” or “The Flowers of Evil” was embroiled in controversy. Within a month of its publication the French authorities brought an action against the author and the book’s publisher claiming that the work was an insult to public decency. Eventually the French courts would acknowledge the literary merit of Baudelaire’s work but ordered that six poems in particular should be banned from subsequent publication. In this edition we reproduce the 1861 edition along with the six censored poems. Also included in this volume is the collection of 51 short prose poems by Charles Baudelaire entitled “Paris Spleen” which was first published posthumously in 1869. Inspired by Aloysius Bertrand’s “Gaspard de la Nuit — Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot” or “Gaspard of the Night — Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot,” Baudelaire remarked that he had read Bertrand’s work at least twenty times for starting “Paris Spleen.” A commentary on Parisian contemporary life, Baudelaire remarked on his work that “These are the flowers of evil again, but with more freedom, much more detail, and much more mockery.” Rich with symbolism, these works are rightly considered classics of the modernist literary movement. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by James Huneker. Read more