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How did Paul Verlaine help publish Arthur Rimbaud’s Illuminations?

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Paul Verlaine, detail from Un Coin de table, oil painting by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris. — Paul Verlaine Paul Verlaine, detail from *Un Coin de table*, oil painting by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris.

Paul Verlaine helped publish Arthur Rimbaud’s Illuminations in 1886 by releasing the collection without the author’s knowledge or consent.1

Verlaine, who had received the manuscript from Rimbaud in 1875, published the work under the attribution "the late Arthur Rimbaud," despite the fact that Rimbaud was still alive at the time. This act was instrumental in bringing attention to Rimbaud’s work and establishing his literary fame.123