Inscribed National Book Award-winner
Les fleurs du mal: The Complete Text of The Flowers of Evil
Publication: Boston: David R. Godine, 1982. First Edition.
Notes: The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet's National Book Award–winning translation of Baudelaire, inscribed to his friend Robert Gottlieb, an acclaimed editor at Knopf and the New Yorker. Gottlieb and Howard were classmates at Columbia University.
In his memoir, Avid Reader, Gottlieb writes about his friendship with Howard. "Real life was at Columbia, not in the classrooms but in the surround, as I started meeting people I could talk to. The crucial encounter was with Dick Howard (now Richard, but never to me). He was a year older and a year ahead, but that never really registered... From the start, then, Dick and I were bound together by books. But also by other things—mostly, I suppose by shared tastes and interests (and snobberies)... We shared an aristocracy of taste that was acute, impassioned, and snobbish—perfect glue for a young friendship... Dick went on to become America's leading translator from the French (as well as a superb critic, teacher, and Pulitzer Prize–winning poet.)"
Edition + Condition: First edition (stating "First published..." with no indication of later printings). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. This copy is inscribed, "For Maria and Bob, with old love and great pride. Richard '82." Maria Tucci is an actor. She and Robert Gottlieb were married from 1969 until his death in 2023. Signed copies of this translation are uncommon.
Provenance: The private library of Robert Gottlieb (1931—2023), sold in part in 2024; supporting paperwork will be provided with the book.
Item No: #364152
Sold
Status: On Hold