From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed:
In the first number of the revised "Mousquetaire," that
for November 18th, 1866, which paper followed immediately
upon the last issue of its predecessor "Les Nouvelles," Dumas
commenced the storyette by the name above. Of this the
introduction is in reality one of his delightful "Causeries" -
moreover in part a culinary one at that - and assuredly not
one to be ignored; here he is to the full the chatty Alexandre
we know so well in this method.
The main story which follows this introduction, and which
is stated to be written by Petrucelli della Gattina, shows
plain indications of having been over-written by our
romancer. Likely enough he was given a rough draft, or
possibly only had the story related. At least, though the
result is not the Dumas of "La Reine Margot," it is that of
him who gave us "Parisiens et Provinciaux," written almost
at the same time.
The story is that of a quite innocent and well-intentioned
Sicilian nobleman who is involuntarily cursed with "Jettature,"
or the evil eye, and a consequent tragical series of "unlucky
accidents" which dog his days. Strange to say, Dumas had
written another such story many years before, now forming a
portion of "Le Corricolo," and the contrast between them,
especially in mental approach, is quite interesting to note.
This work has never been reprinted, and is only to be
read in the pages of "Le Mousquetaire" between the dates of
November 18th and December 14th 1866. This was rather
spoiled by the fact that the Bibliothèque Nationale, from
the files of which I had it copied, lacks one number which
contained its seventeenth chapter. Some years later, I
renewed with Madame la Veuve Henri Mouflier a correspondence
I had carried on with her husband long before. I learned
that a complete file of Dumas' journal for the first two
months was contained in the Musée Dumas at Villers-Cotterets,
and Madame Mouflier was good enough to copy for me the
previously missing section.
