Part of Series
This romance is usually accredited entirely to Paul Meurice, and indeed there is little of the sprightliness and rapid movement which we have grown to expect from Dumas. At the same time it is to be noted that several of the band of adventurers who play a minor part in "Ascanio" again appear. Moreover, they are once more to the fore in "Le Page du Duc de Savoie," which Dumas wrote alone; and he even uses one or two at an impossibly anterior date in his drama "La Tour de Saint-Jacques." Meurice, it may be noted, is thought to have had a small share in "Ascanio." In 1865 this last named produced a dramatised version of "Les Deux Diane," in which Dumas had no hand, and to which he made no objection. (See under the date of 1865.) Some think that Dumas sketched the plot. The two Dianas are Madame de Poitiers and her daughter Madame de Castro. The period is 1521-74, and includes the taking of Calais, the battle of Saint-Quentin, the death of Henri II. and the First Religious Wars.
Author
This note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils. Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were serialized. Dumas also wrote plays and magazine articles, and was a prolific correspondent. Dumas was of Haitian descent and mixed-race. His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, a black slave. At age 14 Thomas-Alexandre was taken by his father to France, where he was educated in a military academy and entered the military for what became an illustrious career. Dumas' father's aristocratic rank helped young Alexandre Dumas acquire work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, then as a writer, finding early success. He became one of the leading authors of the French Romantic Movement, in Paris. Excerpted from Wikipedia.
