Ponson du Terrail
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Caricature of Paul Féval by André Gill. La Lune, September 16, 1866. Wikimedia Commons: Public Domain. In 1866, popular novelist Paul Féval lamented, “For several years now, the crime industry just hasn’t been delivering the goods.”[1] By his calculation, there were upwards of two million upright and intelligent French readers who were dying for crime
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“The Vicount Ponson du Terrail” by André Gill. La Lune, February 24, 1867. Wikimedia Commons: Universitätsbibliothek, Heidelberg. Q: Who or what is Rocambole? A: Rocambole is the son of Ponson du Terrail, who created and gave birth to Rocambole. Q: Why did Ponson du Terrail create and give birth to Rocambole? A: Ponson du Terrail
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Ponson du Terrail, Les Drames de Paris: Rocambole, reissued in 157 weekly installments (Paris: Jules Rouff, 1883-1886). Cover by Kauffmann. Collection: Bibliothèque des Littératures Policières, Paris. Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail (1829-1871) was the most prolific and commercially successful popular novelist of nineteenth-century France. His enduring character is Rocambole, a criminal-turned-avenger hero whose exploits were
Shady Detectives, Elegant Criminals & Dark Avengers 