VERLAINE (Paul).

Autograph letter signed to Irénée Decroix, dated Paris 15 [January 1877]. One page in-8 on a bifeuillet (206 x 135 mm), in brown ink, on laid paper, with on the reverse side two large original drawings, each full page, in a modern black half-maroquin folder. Letter decorated with two amusing full-page pen drawings, each with an autograph caption. This letter is addressed to Irénée Decroix, wine merchant, son of a former teacher in Charleville, friend of Verlaine. Verlaine was best man at his wedding in 1878, then godfather to his son Paul the following year. He dedicated to him a piece of his collection Dédicaces. In his usual telegraphic style, Verlaine announces to his friend Fait the two commissions in question, and then follows up with: Repars demain matin - pour Bournemouth - where he gives his address. Verlaine left from September 1876 to March 28, 1877 to teach French, a little Latin and drawing to boarders at St. Aloysius School in Bournemouth, a seaside resort on England's wild English Channel coast, opposite the Isle of Wight, which he described in his poem Bournemouth, included in Amour. During the Christmas vacations of 1876, Verlaine spent some time at his mother's house in Arras and decided to leave England to reconquer Paris. He went there for a few days in January, to see how he would be received. In this letter, he confided to his friend his Parisian projects. He is waiting for news from his correspondent, and will leave England around April 1st, in order to spend a week in London before my definitive return to this Paris which saw my childhood, and will probably see my old age, if necessary. In London as in Paris, he counts on him and this "Huppe" for a stay that is no less cordial than investigative. Finally, he informs him that his mother will return to Arras [...] where she will always be happy to receive you. On the back, the first drawing represents a head of a hairy character (Elias Howe) leaning on a cloud, pointing with his two index fingers to Verlaine's legend: "That is our good genius. Elias Howe (1818-1867) was the American inventor of the sewing machine in 1846 and won a medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867. Verlaine represents him in his correspondence for the second time (see letter to Decroix of February 8, 1876), perhaps because Decroix offered him a sewing machine business, after the wine business? The second drawing shows three men walking towards the door of a restaurant on which is written in large letters: ROAST BEEF. On the left: Irénée Decroix, playing on a flute the famous tune of the time: L'amant d'Amanda, captioned: You, with your flute. He is followed by Verlaine with his eternal muffler, his hat and a basket, captioned: Me, full of mistrust, and by the portly Ernest Delahaye, Rimbaud's friend, captioned: Him !!! full of confidence. Below the composition, Verlaine wrote: Our Easter Week in 77, or, at least, I hope so! Verlaine's humor can be found in the caption: This is fog! Collection Matarasso, (May 3, 1982, n° 87, incorrectly dated Nov. 15, 1876). Correspondence, ed. Ad. Van Bever, vol. III, p. 100; Correspondance générale (ed. M. Pakenham), Fayard, 2005, vol. I, pp. 546-547 (drawing reproduced). Small restorations to the adhesive at the fold and small tear without missing.