Alexandre Dumas

Ascanio - Vol. Ii. Alexandre Dumas

This early work by Alexandre Dumas was originally published in 1843 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Ascanio - Vol. I.' is the second volume of a novel partially based on the life of the goldsmith and sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini. Alexandre Dumas was born in Villers-Cotterêts, France in 1802. His parents were poor, but their heritage and good reputation - Alexandre's father had been a general in Napoleon's army - provided Alexandre with opportunities for good employment. In 1822, Dumas moved to Paris to work for future king Louis Philippe I in the Palais Royal. It was here that he began to write for magazines and the theatre. Dumas made a lot of money from his writing, but he was almost constantly penniless as a result of his extravagant lifestyle and love of women. In 1851 he fled his creditors to Belgium, and then Russia, and then Italy, not returning to Paris until 1864. Dumas died in Puys, France, in 1870, at the age of 68.