The Black Tulip (1850) was written during one of Alexandre Dumas’s financially desperate periods—he was drowning in debt and increasingly reliant on ghostwriters. Though published under his name, much of the novel was likely penned by Auguste Maquet, his longtime (and often uncredited) collaborator. It was one of the last major novels Dumas wrote before his popularity declined. What’s fascinating: the book was a commercial pivot. While Dumas was known for swashbuckling epics, The Black Tulip lea