Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) is the greatest French poet, the author of “The Flowers of Evil”, enfant terrible, the man who drew a line under the Enlightenment and ushered in the age of modernism with his work, the most influential French writer of the 19th century, whose discoveries were used by poets and writers all over the world, including in Russia - the entire Silver Age - was not only a poet, but also a subtle prose writer. However, Baudelaire's prose is little known to the Russian reader. Meanwhile, his essays, critical articles, observations from diaries and notebooks, sketches of novels and plays are interesting not only because they allow a broader look at the poet’s work; First of all, they are smart and at the same time entertaining reading. Most of the texts presented in the publication are published in Russian for the first time.