Les Drames de la mer; Épisodes de la mer; Naufrages
collection, pub:1852
From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: LES DRAMES DE LA MER. ÉPISODES DE LA MER. NAUFRAGES. BONTEKOE. LE CAPITAINE MARION. LA JUNON. LE KENT.
Four vivid narratives of the sea, re-shaped by Dumas' lively pen. working with no other aid than the recollection of his reading of their details.
The first is an account of the adventures of the Dutch captain Bontekoe and his men in the early 16th century, drawn from the adventurer's own narrative.
The second is a graphic description of the murder of Captain Marion de Fresne at the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) in 1772, founded on Croizet's narrative.
The other two pieces, the wreck of the "Juno" and the burning of the "Kent," the first in 1795 and the other in 1825, are among the famous tragedies of the sea, and have perhaps nowhere been better narrated than here.
Original edition: Paris, Cadot, 2 vols., 8vo., 1852,
Alphonse Lebègue, Brussels, apparently printed and published this work in two separately titled volumes: "Episodes de la Mer " and "Naufrages."
The collection now forms one volume in the standard Calmann-Lévy edition, while in their illustrated series all the articles save "Bontekoe" find a place in one volume or another.
In Le Vasseur's "Alexandre Dumas Illustré" they find a position in Vol. XX
References :— Parran: "Bibliographie d'Alex. Dumas," page 59. Glinel: "Alex. Dumas et Son Œuvre," page 428.
"Bontekoe's East Indian Voyages;" London, Routledge, Kegan Paul and Co., 10 plates, 1929.
Dalzell: "Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea."
Croizet: "Nouveau Voyage à la Mer du Sud..." (Paris, 1783).
English Translations :—
"Bontekoe," in "Pauline;" London, Methuen, 1904.
"Captain Marion," in "Maître Adam;" London, Methuen, sewed, 1906.
"The Juno," in "Catherine Blum;" London, Methuen, sewed, 1904. Reprinted, same firm, 18mo., 1922.
