Baudelaire's Paris
by Nigel Woodhead

A guided tour through 19th  century Bohemian Paris, in the steps of cult French poet Charles Baudelaire. Evocatively illustrated, with a suggested poem, in English and French, 
at each location. 

Visit the places that inspired Charles' Baudelaire's poetic masterpieces, Paris Spleen and Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil): Two literary tours through the sites  that mark the poet’s life, each ending at his grave. Anecdotes at each address explain the poet's friendships with other artistic and literary figures including members of the Hashish Club Théophile Gautier, Gérard de Nerval, Manet and Delacroix. 

Locations include Montmartre, Pigalle, Montparnasse, the Isle Saint-Louis, and Latin Quarter. 
Also: Baudelaire's birthplace, grave and monuments.

At each of these literary landmarks, one of Baudelaire’s best poems is presented, in the original French, and with an English translation. Translators include the Decadent poet Arthur Symons (the first to translate Baudelaire), the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley, and artist Edna St. Vincent Millay, as well as the author of this book, Nigel Woodhead. Evocatively illustrated with period and contemporary images that complement the settings and themes of the poems.

You can read this book in several ways: as an anthology of some of the most influential Bohemian poetry; as a biography of one of the 19^th century’s foremost literary figures; or as a guidebook to some of the French capital’s most atmospheric locations.

Should you choose to make a pilgrimage in the flesh to the locations in this book, you will be following in the footsteps of many thousands of other fans and disciples of Baudelaire – from 19^th century decadent writers and artists, including Oscar Wilde, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé, to famous singers of our own times, notably Serge Gainsbourg, Jim Morrison and Patti Smith. Oscar Wilde spent the last months of his life in Paris – like Baudelaire, his health ruined by alcohol and drugs. Morrison too fell victim to the curse, and lies in Père Lachaise cemetery – not far from Wilde. Gainsbourg also died before his time, and is buried in the Montparnasse cemetery, not far from Baudelaire. The tombs of Baudelaire, Wilde, Morrison and Gainsbourg are arguably the most visited in Paris.

The book's illustrations are designed to give it the flavor of a poetry edition from the mid 19^th century, contemporary to the first publication of Baudelaire’s poetry.

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