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Description edit
A story of romantic love in Holland during the Renaissance, this historical novel describes the murder of John de Witte and his brother Cornelius under the hands of tyrants. And the black tulip? A symbol of justice and the end of oppression.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
The black tulip starts out with the De Witt brothers running from the death sentence set upon them by the city council. After the brothers death we meet Cornelius Van Baerle, and good tulip grower whose goal is to find out how to grow the great black tulip, which is worth a lot of money, and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Cornelius de Witt: Brother of John, Dutch political figure of the time. (Real name Cornelis)
- Cornelius van Baerle: Godson of Cornelius de Witt, artist & tulip-grower.
- John de Witt: Brother of Cornelius, Dutch political figure of the time. (Real name Johan.)
- Isaac Boxtel: Van Baerle's jealous neighbor.
- Rosa: 17 or 18, daughter of the jailer Gryphus.
- William of Orange: Prince and Stadtholder.
- Tyckelaer: Add a description of this character.
First Sentence edit
ON THE 20th of August, 1672, the city of the Hague, always so lively, so neat, and so trim, that one might believe every day to be Sunday; with its shady park, with its tall trees, spreading over its Gothic houses; with its canals like large mirrors, in which its steeples and its almost Eastern cupolas are reflected; the city of the Hague, the capital of the seven United Provinces,* was swelling in all its arteries with a black and red stream of hurried, panting, and restless citizens, who, with their knives in their girdles, muskets on their shoulders, or sticks in their hands, were pushing on to the Buitenhof,* a terrible prison, the grated windows of which are still shown, where, on the charge of attempted murder, preferred against him by the surgeon Tyckelaer* Cornelius De Witte,* the brother of the Grand Pensionary of Holland, was confined.
Table of Contents edit
I. A Grateful People
II. The Two Brothers
III. The Pupil of John de Witt
IV. The Murderers
V. The Amateur Tulip-grower and his Neighbour
VI. A Tulip-fancier's Hatred
VII. The Happy Man becomes acquainted with Misfortune
VIII. An Incursion
IX. The Family Cell
X. The Jailer's Daughter
XI. The Will of Cornelius van Baerle
XII. The Execution
XIII. The Thoughts of one of the Spectators during the last Scene
XIV. The Pigeons of Dordrecht
XV. The Wicket in the Cell Door
XVI. Master and Scholar
XVII. The First Bulb
XVIII. Rosa's Lover
XIX. A Woman and a Flower
XX What had Happened during the Eight Days
XXI. The Second Bulb
XXII. The Opening of the Flower
XXIII. The Jealous Man
XXIV. In which the Black Tulip changes its Master
XXV. President Van Systens
XXVI. A Member of the Horticultural Society
XXVII. The Third Bulb
XXVIII. The Song of the Flowers
XXIX. In which Van Baerle, before quitting Loevestein, Settles his Accounts with Gryphus
XXX. In which one begins to Suspect what kind of Punishment was reserved for Cornelius van Baerle
XXXI. Haarlem
XXXII. A Last Prayer
Conclusion
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Folio Society. (edition-based publisher list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Alexandre Dumas, père (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: French
Publisher: Baudry
Country: France
Publication Date: 1850
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Baudry
Country: France
Publication Date: 1850
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 234
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PQ2229.T8 E5
- Dewey: 843.7
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Wikipedia article: Historical novel written by Alexandre Dumas, père.
- Folio Society: In The Hague, a mob of townsmen and militia stirred up by lies and agitators stands outside the city’s prison baying for the blood of the de Witt brothers; disgraced statesmen unjustly accused of a plot against William of Orange. Meanwhile, in the quiet country town of Dordrecht, de Witt’s godson Cornelius devotes himself to his tulips – most especially to the cultivation of a true black flower, considered impossible, but for which the Haarlem Tulip Society has offered a magnificent prize. The naïve Cornelius cares only for flowers, but he has stirred up a deadly rivalry and rage in the heart of his neighbor, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the precious tulip bulb.
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