One of the most famous guns in French literary history, fired by Paul Verlaine in a drunken attempt to kill his lover and fellow poet, Arthur Rimbaud, was sold yesterday (Wed) for €434,500 (more than £368,000) — seven times the asking price.

Christie’s auctioneers had valued the revolver, which Verlaine fired twice at Rimbaud without seriously hurting him, at about £50,000.

The buyer, who put in a telephone bid, requested that his identity be kept confidential, according to Christie’s Paris office.

Verlaine bought it on a scorching July morning in Brussels in 1873 after becoming suicidal during an absinthe-fuelled sojourn in the Belgian capital with Rimbaud.

He took the gun back to their hotel room, where they quarrelled as they spent the morning drinking.