_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
19_th_ _March_, 1856.
Here, my dear patron, is a kind of literature which will not, perhaps,
inspire you with as much enthusiasm as it does me, but which will most
surely interest you. It is necessary--that is to say that I desire,
that Edgar Poe, who is not very great in America, should become a great
man in France. Knowing how brave you are and what a lover of novelty, I
have boldly promised your support to Michel Lévy.
Can you write me a line telling me if you will do something in the
"Athenæum" or elsewhere? Because, in that case, I would write to M.
Lalanne not to entrust this to any one else--your pen having a peculiar
authority of which I am in need.
You will see at the end of the Notice (which contradicts all the
current opinions in the United States) that I announce new studies. I
shall speak of the opinions of this singular man later, in the matter
of sciences, philosophy, and literature.