This volume contains four of Pixérécourt’s most important melodramas: The Ruins of Babylon, or Jafar and Zaida; The Dog of Montargis, or The Forest of Bondy;

Christopher Columbus, or the Discovery of the New World; and Alice, or The Scottish Gravediggers. Also included is Charles Nodier ’s introduction to the 1843 Collected Edition of Pixérécourt’s plays and two theoretical essays by the playwright, “Melodrama,” and “Final Reflections on Melodrama.”

Translated by: Marvin Carlson, Daniel Gerould