Arthur RIMBAUD - Signed autograph manuscript. Harar, 1889.

Arthur RIMBAUD (1854.1891)

Signed autograph manuscript.

One page in-8° on lined paper.

Harar. February 26, 1889.

Unpublished document from the Rimbaud correspondence.

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“I received from Ato Tesamma on behalf of Mr. Savouré three hundred and thirty thalaris (th 330.)

This receipt cancels the two previous ones. Harar this February 26, 1889.

For Mr. Savouré.

Rimbaud. »

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Rimbaud, arms dealer in Harar: the last traces of the poet. Rimbaud's Hararian years are poorly known, which, paradoxically, contributed to his legend.

Having given up the large-scale arms trade in 1888, Rimbaud turned to traditional trading (coffee, gums, perfumes, fabrics, ivory, etc.) opening a commercial agency in Harar on his own account. Monotonous and desperate activity which would occupy him for the next two years.

On April 7, 1891, suffering from pain in his right leg, no longer able to move or work, he organized his departure and was transported by stretcher to Aden, a stopover prior to his embarkation for Marseille, where he arrived on May 20. Immediately amputated, the poet lives out his last months. He died on November 10, 1891 at the Hospice de la Conception in Marseille.

Until now, we knew of 22 autograph receipts from Rimbaud dating from his last stay in Harar (1888-1890), half of which are in public collections (9 at the Jacques Doucet Literary Library, 2 at Charleville-Mézières). The document that we present here, kept in private hands for 50 years, is therefore unpublished in the correspondence published by Fayard.