The Black Tulip

First published in 1850, Alexandre Dumas’s The Black Tulip unfolds in the Netherlands during the turbulent year of 1672, when political upheaval and mob violence sweep through the Dutch Republic. At its centre is Cornelius van Baerle, a devoted tulip grower determined to cultivate a perfectly black tulip and win a remarkable prize offered by the Horticultural Society of Haarlem. When political intrigue and the jealousy of his rival Boxtel lead to his imprisonment, Cornelius’s hopes seem lost until Rosa, the prison governor’s daughter, becomes his ally in a daring attempt to preserve his precious flower.

Blending historical intrigue, romantic adventure and the suspense of a carefully plotted mystery, Dumas transforms the Dutch obsession with tulips into a story of ambition, persecution, jealousy and enduring hope. The elusive black tulip becomes a symbol of beauty pursued against the odds, while the novel’s political backdrop lends its intimate love story a broader meditation on tyranny and justice. Less famous than The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, this compact historical novel nevertheless displays Dumas’s gift for irresistible storytelling and his belief in the possibility of tenderness amid cruelty.

From the book

“The city of the Hague, always so lively, so neat, and so trim that one might believe every day was Sunday.”

— Alexandre Dumas, The Black Tulip

On The Black Tulip

“The novel is also a timeless political allegory … a symbol of justice and tolerance.”

— Oxford World's Classics