Poëmes saturniens. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1866.
In-12 : paperback, in a red half-maroquin folder and slipcase.
First edition at 505 copies, at the author's expense.
The Poèmes saturniens were partly financed by Élisa Dujardin, the poet's cousin and the inspiration for some of his first verses. In 1883, the edition was still not sold out at the publisher's.
First collection by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896).
Of the forty pieces in the collection, some were composed in the high school years. The work was published in indifference despite the praise of Sainte-Beuve, Victor Hugo, Banville and Stéphane Mallarmé, who praised "a virgin and new metal".
Autograph letter signed: to the illustrious poet
Emile Deschamps respectful homage of deep admiration
P. Verlaine
Somewhat forgotten today, Emile Deschamps (1791-1871) was indeed an "illustrious poet", a friend of Théophile Gautier, Victor Hugo and Alfred de Vigny. Among the pioneers of Romanticism, he was one of the founders of La Muse française, translated Schelling, adapted French translations of Shakespeare into regular verse and was one of the librettists of Berlioz and Meyerbeer.
He was one of the few defenders of Baudelaire during the trial of Les Fleurs du Mal for outrage to public morality: he addressed a poem to him which Baudelaire had printed.
Restored spine, renewed endpapers and small restoration in the upper margin of the title.
(Galantaris, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, nº 6.) "A young dawn of true poetry" (Victor Hugo)
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