Baudelaire's suicide note fetches $267,000 at auction

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A letter written by a 19th-century French poet, Charles Baudelaire, announcing his suicide attempt fetched about 267,000 US dollars at auction in Paris Sunday, three times more than was anticipated.

Best known for his poem collection "The Flowers of Evil," Baudelaire was 24 when he wrote the letter to inform his mistress Jeanne Duval about his suicidal intentions.

"When you receive this letter, I will be dead... I am killing myself because I cannot carry on living, I can no longer endure the ordeal of falling asleep or waking up again," the letter read.

"I am killing myself because I believe myself to be immortal, and I hope for it," Baudelaire wrote.

A canvas portrait of Charles Baudelaire in France. /VCG Photo

The poet was in debt and had not yet established his fame when the letter was written in 1845.

Baudelaire stabbed himself in the chest on that day but suffered no serious injuries. The poet went on to live for another 22 years, during which his most famous poems were published. He died at the age of 46 in 1867.

The French auction house Osenat said this item is "without a doubt the most extraordinary letter from Baudelaire in private hands." Osenat had estimated that the letter would sell for between 68,000 and 91,000 US dollars, but a private buyer acquired it for about three times the price.

(Top Photo: A file photo shows the suicide letter of Baudelaire, included in part of a collection of autographs and manuscripts, ahead of their auction in Paris, October 25, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency