14. Rimbaud & Verlaine, Royal College Street, Camden

Infamous French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine lodged in this Georgian townhouse in 1873 for three short explosive months. In search of a change of scene and to get away from Verlaine’s conventional family life, the deeply problematic couple came to London after scandalising Paris with their anti-social antics which, more often than not, involved lashings of drugs, Absinthe and violence.

Of all the tempestuous quarrels between these two delinquents, this one at Royal College Street would set in motion the beginning of the end of their relationship: “Rimbaud leant out of the window as Verlaine was walking back from Camden market … and shouted a stream of abuse. Verlaine hit Rimbaud with a fish he’d acquired in the market [and] fled to Brussels. Rimbaud, contrite, immediately followed … Verlaine shot Rimbaud, wounding him … and went to prison for a couple of years for that.”

Print is 20 x 25cm, unframed, signed, numbered and comes with the above accompanying text.