From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: A play by Paul Meurice, drawn from the romance of the same name. It was on the occasion of the construction of this piece that Dumas wrote to Meurice stating that the romance was wholly by this latter, and that Dumas himself had never read it. Here is the letter :
"One day you borrowed my name from me, in order to render yourself a service which my purse could not perform ; I gave it to you with confidence, almost with pride. You wrote under my name 'Les Deux Diane.'
"I renounce all rights to the drama of 'Les Deux Diane,' possessing none. As for the book, it will give me pleasure if, in the new edition which Lévy issues, he will put your name beside mine until the time when the ownership shall return to you . . . I must declare, to put my conscience at ease, that I have never read it."
Original edition : Paris, Librairie Internationale. 1865.
Re-issue : Paris. Calmann-Lévy.
