Les Fleurs du mal

In December 1856, when his relationship with Michel Lévy, the publisher of his Poe translations, was going through a difficult period, Charles Baudelaire suddenly turned towards Auguste Poulet-Malassis, a young printer at Alençon, in Normandy. The poet entrusted his future friend with the task of printing and publishing a book of verse, largely made up of pieces put together during the previous fi…