VERLAINE (Paul). AUTOGRAPHIC LETTER SIGNED addressed... Lot 28

VERLAINE (Paul). AUTOGRAPHIC LETTER SIGNED addressed to Léon Vanier. [Hôpital Broussais, July 22, 1893]. One page in-12. TOUCHING LETTER FROM THE POET to the publisher of the Bohemian symbolist poets and "moderns" such as Rimbaud, Laforgue, Mallarmé, Corbière, etc. Hospitalized, Verlaine solicits Léon Vanier, who provides Verlaine with his rare means of subsistence: "Mon cher Vanier / Voici un Edmond Picard depuis longtemps promis [this is a poem about Edmond Picard to be included in the collection Dédicaces, editor's note]. If it pleases you to settle it in the hands of my dear Philomène, you will be the king of men." Philomène Boudin, the "beloved widow", was living with Verlaine at the time. It was she who took care of the poet's various commissions and collected her companion's royalties. Verlaine goes on to talk about the writing of Quinze jours en Hollande, which was published in 1893: "I work a lot for La Hollande: more than 50 out of 100, or more. That's why, when we get paid (1000 fr!), we'll leave the good (!?!?) Vanier alone, for a bit." The poet ends his letter in a bantering tone, inviting his publisher to pay him a visit: "Come and see me. I'd like to talk to you about a thousand things. Bring me a book of some kind. Do you have a faded Rabelais in that big edition?