RIMBAUD Arthur (1854-1891). Les Illuminations. Notice par Paul Verlaine. Paris, Publications de la Vogue, 1886: in-8, contemporary binding in bottle-green half-chagrin, spine ribbed. Precious and rare first edition. It was long thought that Rimbaud had given up poetry after the publication of Une saison en enfer in 1873. However, it seems that Rimbaud continued to write during 1874, then gave Verlaine the handwritten poems in 1875 in Stockholm. But they changed hands several times and it was only in 1886 that the director of Vogue, Gustave Kahn, undertook to publish them, put in order by Félix Fénéon and presented by Paul Verlaine, who was still filled with admiration for the young man: "at sixteen, he had written the most beautiful verses in the world (...) He is now thirty-two and travels in Asia where he is occupied with works of art". In fact, Rimbaud was preparing an expedition to deliver arms to Abyssinia, now Somalia, and was unaware that the collection had been published. ☞ Edition of 200 copies. One of 170 on Hollande. Ex-libris Pierre Haour, Adrienne Monnier's partner in 1918 and Fargues' mentor. Stamp of Gérard Oberlé au Manoir du Pron, bookseller, writer and bibliographer. - Very rare in period binding. 📖 Galantaris, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, n° 281.