From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: Dumas first gave his readers his earlier Russian travels as a series of "Causeries" in "Le Monte-Cristo." The latter portion, dealing with his travels in the Caucasus, he first issued as a periodical "Le Caucase."
Each number consists of 8 pages, half of the first being taken up with a wood-block of mountain scenery in the wild district concerned. (This block is always the same.) It was issued by Charlieu, and printed by H. S. Dondey-Dupré. It appeared daily, the first number on April 16th and the last, at least as regards these travels, on the 15th of the following May, 1859. (Glinel says it was a daily paper devoted to travel and romance; the "Gazetiers et Gazettes" for 1860 says it was a continuation of "Le Monte-Cristo," and that 50 numbers had appeared, of which 30 were occupied with the account of the journey into the country of Schamyl; it adds that "Le Monte-Cristo" had again taken the place of "Le Caucase."
In the Reed Dumas Collection is a copy of the first thirty numbers of this work. The first of these, printed in decidedly smaller type than the remainder, consists of what is still, as then, the introduction. This is signed "Alexandre Dumas, Tiflis, 1st December. 1858." The parts all bear this inscription : "Le Caucase, Journal de Voyages et Romans, Paraissant Tous les Jours. Nous commencons notre publication par le voyage d'Alexandre Dumas au Caucase. Cet ouvrage, entièrement inédit, sera complet en trente numéros pour lesquels on peut s'abonner à l'avance. En vente chez Delavier, rue Nôtre-Dame-des-Victoires, 11." ("LE CAUCASE, a journal devoted to Travel and Romances, appearing every day. We commence our publication with the journey of Alexandre Dumas in the Caucasus. This work, entirely unpublished, will be complete in 30 numbers, which may be subscribed for in advance.") On the final page of the first part we read: "AVIS.—Le nouveau journal 'Le Caucase' ne contiendra que des voyages ou romans inédits, publiés sans intercalation d'un ouvrage sur un autre, ce qui permettra de ne prendre que les ouvrages qui conviendront, sans être obligé d'acheter 50 numéros afin d'avoir un roman complet ; on évitera ainsi aux lecteurs l'ennui de feuilleter un énorme volume pour trouver la suite ou la fin d'un article." ("ADVICE.—The new journal 'Le Caucase' will contain only travels and romances which have not been printed, published without intercalation one with another, thus allowing of the taking only of desired works, without the necessity of purchasing 50 numbers to complete a romance. Readers thus avoid the trouble of turning over an immense volume in order to find the completion or the continuation of an article.")
It has been repeatedly stated that the three Nos. 14, 20 and 21 were confiscated by direction of the tribunal, from having in them over much material copied from a work by M. Édouard Merlieux. The set described above contains the complete sequence, and is moreover precisely the text as we have it to-day in the standard Calmann-Lévy edition, though Chapter XIV. in the journal becomes Chapters XIV. and XV. in the volume, and the succeeding ones are consequently numbered in each case one higher than in the periodical.
