The journal of Madame Callegari : the true story behind Alexandre Dumas's 1855 Journal de Madame Giovanni / Douglas Wilkie.

Early in 1855, a thirty-six-year-old French woman approached Alexandre Dumas in Paris, and asked him to edit, and publish, her account of ten years spent travelling in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, California and Mexico. Dumas agreed to her request, because her story was one of adventure and romance, and took this young lady, and her husband, to places seldom visited by young women. However, she insisted that, in publishing her story, her true identity should not be revealed. To achieve this they chose the pseudonym Madame Giovanni, and changed, or omitted, certain parts of the narrative which could have identified her. Since first publication, the true identity of Madame Giovanni was cause for speculation, and readers could not decide whether the story was true at all, or whether it was a mixture of fact and fiction. The Journal of Madame Callegari, researched over four years, and using archives from at least eight countries, reveals that Madame Marie Giovanni was in fact Madame Marie Callegari. Madame Callegari's true adventures go far beyond those recorded by Alexandre Dumas in 1855.

"Including Madame Giovanni's own 1889 sequel to her 1855 Journal" ---Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-410).