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Rare first edition of the first book dedicated to Verlaine,
Pen
Size 12x19cm
176 pages
average condition, see photos...no defects but signs of aging, the paper cover has lost fragments. Nonetheless, it is an extraordinary book
This book is covered with a removable book protection film.
Weight 135 grams
fromAmour(1888)Without the ambivalent but somewhat stabilizing influence of his mother, who died in 1886, Verlaine, his emotional distress compounded by a variety of physical illnesses, was to spend his final years in and out of Paris, in hospitals and increasingly shoddy boarding houses , cared for by dedicated doctors and supported by a growing clique of charitable and generous admirers. One of them was the young artist F.-A. Cazals, the object of Verlaine's unrequited and more than platonic attention, who despite the poet's unreasonable jealousies would nevertheless remain a staunch friend and sketch him frequently. It was during one of his many stays at the Hôpital Brous- says that Verlaine completed the collection Amour, many of whose poems had been written in the previous decade under the same religious, almost mystical inspiration as that of Sagesse, to which it was originally classified as a species sequel, along with an element of patriotic passion and political sarcasm. The volume contained within its pages a number of sonnets dedicated to friends and luminaries; among them the venerable Victor Hugo, the poet-theoretician Charles Morice, the composer Emmanuel Chabrier and, with a particularly touching memory, his former brother-in-law Charles deSivry. But it seems to have had its true raison d'être in the touching cycle of 25 poems dedicated to Lucien Létinois, some predating his death, others posthumous, all a poignant testimony of Verlaine's affection. 67481891
