Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire published The Flowers of Evil in 1857 — and was promptly prosecuted for offending public morals. Six poems suppressed, a fine. The ban was not lifted until 1949.

He was born in Paris in 1821. His father died early. His stepfather was a general, and Baudelaire hated him. He was packed off on a voyage to Mauritius, to wean him from bohemian life; he turned back halfway.

Dandysme — a cult of elegance and provocation. Jeanne Duval — a mulatto woman, muse and torment. Spleen as a condition: boredom, despair, tedium — and the beauty extracted from them.

He translated Poe. He wrote art criticism — the best of his age. He died in 1867, broken by paralysis, at forty-six.