BAUDELAIRE Charles [Paris, 1821 - id., 1867], French writer - Lot 114

BAUDELAIRE Charles [Paris, 1821 - id., 1867], French writer and poet. Autograph letter signed "Charles" addressed to his mother, Madame Aupick. [Brussels]; Friday, February 3, 1865; 5 pages in-8°. In it, he expresses his concern about his mother's illness, which he had kept from her. He asks if she is really well, and to be careful to avoid a possible relapse. He has had a cold that has prevented him from thinking and writing for several days, and laments not being there for her to alleviate her boredom and loneliness. "If I could have left right away, I would have. But how could I? Even if I had a lot of money, I wouldn't leave. It's not just about Brussels; it's about Paris; it's about business; it's about literature. - This month, I sincerely believe, I'll have important news, and when I tell you about books sold, you'll be able to say: he's close to returning to Paris". He also expresses his unease at being in Belgium, which he compares to a prison: "I consider myself to be in prison or penitence here. I aspire to get out of penitence. I assure you that Belgian prison is harder for me than Honfleur prison is for you. [......] I have no books, I'm badly housed; deprived of money, I only see people I hate, ill-bred people, who seem to have invented some special nonsense for themselves, and every morning I go, palpitating, to the concierge, to find out if there are any letters, if my friends are looking after me, if my articles are appearing, if there's any money, if the negotiation of my books is finished, - and then I have nothing. Ancelle (the family notary to whom Baudelaire is accountable), to whom I gave three commissions that I consider important, hasn't written to me for a month. He then gives news of the Revue de Paris, which "is going downhill. Another loss of money, not only for everything it has to me, but even for the little that has appeared". Bibliography: BAUDELAIRE Charles, Correspondance, 1832 - 1860, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Tome 2, p. 445.