From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: A prose drama in five acts, preceded by a prologue entitled "Un Dernier Jour de Popularité" (A Last Day of Popularity).
Signed by Cordellier-Delanoue alone, yet M. Ch. Glinel possessed the entire manuscript of 92 pages in Dumas' handwriting, ending with the note : "Fini le 3 Mars à 5 h. ½ du soir. Al. Dumas"—avec paraphe. ("Finished on the 3rd of March at half-past five in the evening. Al. Dumas"—with a flourish). M. Glinel also mentions that he detected numerous variations between this MS. and the printed version. Alexandre Dumas fils wrote, concerning this matter: "The original was by C. Delanoue, an intimate friend of my father's. This latter would entirely reconstruct and rewrite the piece, as he invariably did. I have in this way the manuscript of 'Kean' and of the ''Testament de César.' . . - Only at the time of the 'Cromwell' my father absolutely refused to sign with anyone whatever. He thus worked at a great number of pieces. . . ."
In this play we have yet another suggested solution to the masked executioner. It must be confessed that, though the denouement has possibilities, the last scenes seem to be rather dragged in without due preparation in the earlier parts.
First performed at the Porte Saint Martin Théâtre on the 21st of May, 1835.
Original edition: Paris, Marchant, "Librairie Théâtrale." Later it was reprinted as part of the "Magasin Théâtral" ; Paris, Marchant, large 8vo. of two columns, pp. 35.
References :— Glinel: "Théâtre Inconnu,"—"Revue Biblio-Iconographique," year 1898, pp. 512-513. Lecomte: "Alexandre Dumas," page 114.
