From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: Is this really to be considered as a work of Dumas, as has been claimed? It is at least doubtful, at most distinctly improbable. He did not like this class of work ; his tendency was all towards a lessening of the objectionable where he felt it necessary to touch upon it for the sake of developing his plot. Moreover it is well known that his name was worth a great deal to publishers, tempting them to ascribe to him the work of others.
It is described as "Œuvre posthume d'une Célébrité Masquée;" and by the bookseller, verbally, as "Un chef-d'œuvre de la Littéraire érotique, et que l'on attribue à Alexandre Dumas." ("A posthumous work by a famous author."—"A masterpiece of erotic literature, which has been attributed to Alexandre Dumas.")
The expression "posthume" gives further cause for doubt. In his latter months, his last days, Dumas did not write. If this was produced some time earlier, why was its appearance delayed? He was always, but especially in the last years, only too anxious to convert work into cash, and it is unthinkable that the publisher would hold back such a writer's production. Then again he died in December, 1870, so that there was scant time to describe such a work printed the same year as "posthumous."
Only edition : Libourne, Chez Ant. de Borivista, 12mo., broch. couv., 1870.
