SOURCE: "Alexandre Dumas," in A Naturalist of Souls: Studies in Psychography, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1926, pp. 179-205.

In the following essay, Bradford provides an overview of Dumas's career and works and defends him against critics who appraise his writing as mere entertainment.

Mr. Davidson, whose excellent volume on Dumas must be the foundation of any careful study of the subject, dismisses his author with the remark: 'Except for increasing the already ample means of relaxation, he did nothing to benefit humanity at large.' Is not this a rather grudging epitaph for the creator of 'Monte Cristo'? Are the means of relaxation so ample that we can afford to treat 'La Tour de Nesle' and 'La Reine Margot' as alms for oblivion? Would Stevenson have read 'Le Vicomte de Bragelonne' six times, would you or I have read 'Les Trois Mousquetaires' more times than we can count, if other...