The Black Tulip

First published in 1850 The Black Tulip is a historical tale and a piece of Romantic poetry by Alexandre Dumas Sr. The lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis in 1672 who were regarded as rebels against the stadtholder William III marks the beginning of the story. A silent 1921 Dutch-UK co-production directed by Maurits Binger and Frank Richardson appears to have been the first movie version. In a well-liked 1937 UK rendition of the book Alex Bryce starred Patrick Waddington as Cornelius Van Baerle. In August 1956 a five-part BBC miniseries starring Douglas Wilmer appeared. In September 1970 a second British miniseries aired. A bowdlerized version of the narrative was used to make a 50-minute childrens animated film in 1988 by an Australian Burbank production company. Kit Goldstein wrote a musical adaptation in 2004 and it had its debut in February 2005 at Union College. The book was first released by Baudry in three volumes in 1850 under the name La Tulipe Noire (Paris). The same authors The Count of Monte Cristo has a story that is comparable to this one.