Les Fleurs du Mal

Charles Baudelaire

Lettres Francaises / Collection Imprimerie Nationale, 1978

[Interesting provenance, previously owned by former Miss America Yolande Margaret Betbeze Fox.] Near fine. Bound in full leather. Top edge gilt. Marbled end pages. Hardcover. French text. Good binding and cover. Clean, unmarked pages. 435 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm. 

Yolande Betbeze Fox (mentioned in book) was a convent-educated Alabamian who defied convention, and set new standards, by refusing to tour the country as Miss America of 1951 in revealing bathing suits. 

"The Flowers of Evil (The evil flowers, in French) is an anthology of cursed poems written by Charles Baudelaire and published in 1857. This is considered one of the most magnificent works of the author, being an example of French symbolism and decadence. The text is a reflection of a time when it was imperative for the author to scandalize the bourgeoisie of the second empire. Through a masterful use of words, the work served Baudelaire as an escape from the so-called 'spleen' (a feeling of anguished boredom that the poet feels when he is rejected by a hypocritical and decadent society). According to the writer, the best way to avoid this regret is through art, poetry, excesses and love, which is not far from suffering."