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Aestheticism and decadence books

Aestheticism and decadence books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.

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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.

Mademoiselle De Maupin
Théophile Gautier
Its preface is the early statement of art for art's sake that later writers picked up.
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Les fleurs du mal
Charles Baudelaire
Set beauty against decay and boredom; a model for the decadent sensibility.
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Poems and Ballads
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Its sensual, musical verse caused a public scandal in England.
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Studies in the History of the Renaissance
Walter Pater
Its conclusion argues for intense, aware living and set out the aesthetic creed.
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À rebours
Joris-Karl Huysmans
A recluse's obsessive refinement; the central text of French decadence.
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