Book excerpt: In the winter of 1880 Edouard Manet, then 49, was dying. In the last months of his life he funnelled his waning energy into a series of remarkable still lifes - 16 small paintings of flowers - which are brought together in this book. An essay by Andrew Forge pays tribute to the artist's struggle and his legacy, and Robert Gordon's selections from Manet's letters add poignancy to this last glow of a brilliant artistic flame.