Please help... I am looking for the origin to a quote by Baudelaire in which a reference to Poe is made. The quote is found in The Post Card by Jacques Derrida.

"They thank him for the great truths he has just proclaimed-- for they have discovered (O verifier of that which cannot be verified!) that everything he has uttered is absolutely true;-- although at first, the good people confess, they had had the suspicion that it might indeed be a simple fiction. Poe answers that, for his part, he never doubted it."--Baudelaire

If anyone knows ANYTHING about this quote, I would be most greatful to hear...

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2003

Answers

This precise quote comes from Baudelaire's "Notes Nouvelles sur Edgar Poe", paragraph II, about Poe's own "Marginalia" comment on his well- known tale/essay about "Mesmeric Revelation". Baudelaire wrote these new notes as an introduction to the second volume of his translations from Poe's Tales, published in 1857 under the title of "Nouvelles Histoires Extraordinaires" (Paris - M. Lévy). Very easy to find in French, in common paperback editions. Baudelaire's notes on Poe were translated several times into English (even as soon as in 1872), and are still available today in various British or US editions. Good luck. Yours sincerely, Raven's Shade (Belgium).

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2003