From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: In the "Livre Moderne," No. for the 10th of January, 1890, pp. 45 and 46, occurs the following :—
"A worthy Breton, of unquestioned ugliness, M . . ., having had his own portrait published in the 'Album d'Ille-et-Vilaine,' went to find Papa Dumas, his friend, to beg him to write some lines on this evidence of iconolatry.
"Dumas smiled at this serious monkey, and dashed off the improvised lines below.
'Cette image dont j'ai l'étrenne
M'offre un homme au regard chagrin,
On lit en haut: "Ille et Vilaine;"
On devrait dire: "II est vilain." ' (1)
"The Breton was witty; he enjoyed the poetical point, and forgave it."
(1) "This portrait, which I first receive,
A surly man is, I perceive;
'Ille-et-Vilaine,' above one reads,
And straight 'He vilain is' concedes.
