In 1891, French poet Paul Verlaine receives a payment from his publisher.
Handwritten receipt from Paul Verlaine to his publisher.
One page.
In French.
17.8 cm x 11.2 cm.
May 13, 1891, Paris.
Perfect condition of conservation.
Unique piece.
May 13, 1891
Reçu 20 francs sur l'édition de la comédie “Les uns et les autres”, sur les 100 francs de la dite édition.
P. Verlaine
In 1891, Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), ill, was leading a life of misery, the poet's last years. He wandered around Paris between temporary lodgings and Parisian hospitals. There he welcomed his friends as if he were at home. To a journalist from the newspaper Le Figaro who visited him, he said (translated from French):
Poetry is a keyboard, the poet is an artist. He can do anything when he breaks the traditional routine, breaks old molds, creates new effects, invents new chords, but if he hits randomly, or off to the side, the rhythm disappears, the sound no longer exists, the imagination has surpassed the objective to be achieved and we wallow in verses of seventeen, eighteen, twenty-four feet, with metaphors of undeniable boldness: there are the symbolists!
His tumultuous life and passions make Verlaine an extraordinary figure. Along with Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Baudelaire and Victor Hugo, he had a profound impact on 19th-century French literature and remains an absolute reference. Of course, the chaotic love story he lived with Rimbaud contributed to the fame of the two "cursed" poets. Consequently, their autographed documents are highly sought after by collectors around the world and fetch astronomical values at rare auctions.
In this small note in perfect condition, a receipt for payment from his publisher, Verlaine mentions a work that became a play with twenty-one performances in Paris. Despite the turbulent period - the poet suffered and drank heavily - the three handwritten lines and the signature are very legible and elegant. Another detail that caught my attention was the blue and red colored pencil lines. These were usually made by publishers' typographers to accompany published works, but I confess that I saw in this blue-white-red the colors of the French flag!
