_Baudelaire to Sainte-Beuve_
15_th March_, 1865.
Dear friend, I take advantage of the "Histoires grotesques et
sérieuses" to remind myself of you. Sometimes, in the mornings, I talk
about you with M. Muller, of Liège, by whose side I take luncheon,
--and in the evening, after dinner, I am re-reading "Joseph Delorme"
with Malassis. Decidedly, you are right; "Joseph Delorme" is the old
woman's "Flowers of Evil." The comparison is glorious for me. Have the
goodness not to find it offensive to yourself.
And the Preface of the "Vie de César?" Is it predestinarian enough?
Yours always.