VERLAINE (Paul) - Lot 219

VERLAINE (Paul) Born in Metz. 1844-1896. Poet. C.A.S. "P. Verlaine" to publisher Heinemann in London. Paris, March 27, 1895. 1 oblong page. Address and postmarks. ...You will receive at the same time as this 2 small poems which, I think, will please over there. Please take care of them and their destiny, if you can... I hope your health is better than mine - I'm still bedridden, but a little better... Verlaine noted in his head: ...16 rue St Victor (in the care of Mlle Krantz)... [Verlaine had moved in with Eugénie Krantz in 1891. He led an eventful life with her. In February 1895, he again lived with Mlle Krantz, who had moved to 16 rue Saint-Victor (as shown here), before settling in rue Descartes (39), where Verlaine died on January 8, 1896] Verlaine visited England several times, meeting young British artists. But these encounters remain a mystery in the correspondence, since only nine letters (or fragments) are known to us from Van Bever's Correspondance (tome III). However, we do know of Verlaine's friendship with the English poet Arthur Symons (he was the first to translate Verlaine), who published the last report of Verlaine's trip to England in The Savoy in April 1896. Invited by Symons, he had visited London and Oxford for conferences with his friend, the painter William Rothenstein, in November 1893. It was probably through Symons that Verlaine made the acquaintance of the young English poet's publisher, William Heinemann (he was also Conrad's publisher), who had just founded his own publishing house in London in 1890.