Abstract: A theory runs that it is wrongly, and without proof, that critics have attributed the Illuminations to Arthur Rimbaud. Instead, first-hand testimonies, as well as poetic and philological analysis, would demonstrate that Germain Nouveau is the true author of this important work. Against this re-attributive theory, the authors of this article carefully develop an argument which demonstrably reinforces Rimbaud’s paternity of the poems contained in the Illuminations.