DUMAS, A. fils.- ALS.- VALLERY RADOT, R. [recipient].- — 4 x autograph letter plus telegram

Alexandre Dumas fils [novelist and playwright, 1824 - 1895, 27 November], son of Alexandre Dumas père of 'Three Musketeers' fame. Dumas fils, however, was even more renowned than his father in his lifetime and a great force in French drama in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Dumas fils became famous for his 'La Dame aux camélias' [1848]. It was adapted into a play ['Camille' in English] and became the basis for Guiseppe Verdi's 'La Traviata'. Member of the Académie Française and he was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1894. Vallery Radot, the recipient, was a French writer [1853 - 1933] and son in law to Louis Pasteur, whose daughter Marie-Louise he married 4 November 1879. Vallery Radot wrote Louis Pasteur's biography in 1900, based on a wealth of personal knowledge and access to all correspondence, writings, etc. Vallery Radot acted as Louis Pasteur's personal secretary and care giver in the period 1879 - 1895.