A. History and fiction: a comparison.--B. Chronology of Dumas's life.--C. Tabular analysis of Dumas's writing.--D. List of books, consulted.

Alexandre Dumas was one of the most prolific and beloved writers of his time, and in this definitive biography, readers will learn about the life and times of this literary genius. From his humble beginnings to his rise to fame, this book is a fascinating look at the man behind the works that have captivated readers for generations. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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Excerpt from The Life and Writings of Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870 The centenary of the birth of Alexandre Dumas pere occurred in July of this year. As no satisfactory "Life" of the great Frenchman exists in English, this was thought an appropriate moment for giving the public, with whom his romances are so popular, an account of Dumas's life, character, and writings, which should be both interesting to the ordinary reader, and trustworthy as a book of reference. The author has endeavoured to tell the general reader - "the man in the public library" - who Dumas was, what he did, which books he did write and which he did not write, and finally, what his confreres and the great critics have said of him. One or two points may be dealt with here, by way of anticipating obvious criticism. The first relates to the omission from the following pages of the spiteful libels of MM. "de Mirecourt," de Cas-sagnac, etc. It is almost impossible at this date for an)- one, particularly an Englishman, to take the circumstantial allegations of these gentlemen and refute them in detail. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

On the 18th June, 1815, at the very moment when the destiny of Europe was being decided at Waterloo, a man dressed like a beggar was silently following the road from Toulon to Marseilles. Arrived at the entrance of the Gorge of Ollioulles, he halted on a little eminence from which he could see all the surrounding country; then either because he had reached the end of his journey, or because, before attempting that forbidding, sombre pass which is called the Thermopylae of Provence, he wished to enjoy the magnificent view which spread to the southern horizon a little longer, he went and sat down on the edge of the ditch which bordered the road, turning his back on the mountains which rise like an amphitheatre to the north of the town, and having at his feet a rich plain covered with tropical vegetation, exotics of a conservatory, trees and flowers quite unknown in any other part of France.