Caligula

1838

Special Collections PQ2225 C15 1838

Paris: Marchant

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) began his writing career as a dramatist, and some of his early works are listed under ‘Publications du Magasin Théâtral’. Caligula, his verse play about the tyrannical Emperor (reigned 37-41 AD), was written in 1837. In a somewhat ‘modern’ move, he had a trained horse on stage playing the role of Incitatus, the Emperor’s favourite. The 20 performances in 1837-38 did not save the drama. The play failed; the horse was hissed at. In this 1838 printing ‘Stella’ is played by the actress ‘Mlle Ida’, who was Ida Ferrer, later Dumas’ wife. Dumas went on to pen classics such as Les Trois Mousquetaires (1844) and Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1844). In 2002, Dumas was finally re-interred in the Panthéon, alongside his literary fellows Victor Hugo and Émile Zola.