Since the 1874 publication in Belgium of the first posthumous edition of Les Chants de Maldoror, the enigmatic work has served as an inspiration for the poetic and creative liberation of countless twentieth-century writers and artists. Little is known, however, about the book's elusive French author Isidore Ducasse, known as le comte de Lautreamont, and his abbreviated life (1846-1870). In the absence of an original manuscript, Lautreamont's readers have over time altered his poetry for personal, political, and aesthetic reasons. Symbolist literary journals, first editions of his work,...