As I unpacked my copy of Simon Acland's
Flowers of Evil (sequel to
The Waste Land), I got to pondering over the title. I knew Acland must have taken it from Baudelaire's
Les Fleurs du Mal, but what did Baudelaire originally take his title from? My hunt led me to this interesting blog with posts about the origins of book titles, called
How Books Got their Titles - fun to browse if you're in a train-spotting mood
And where did Baudelaire get his title
Fleurs du Mal/Flowers of Evil? No exotic quotation was involved. Baudelaire chose two different titles for his book of poems, neither of which worked out. Frustrated, he ran an informal naming competition while he was at a cafe with some friends and
Fleurs du Mal was the unanimous winner!