Il tulipano nero

by Alexandre Dumas

"Il tulipano nero" by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet is a novel written in 1850. Set in 17th-century Netherlands during the famous tulip mania, the story follows Cornelius Van Baerle, a wealthy physician obsessed with cultivating the impossible: a black tulip worth a fortune. When a jealous neighbor conspires against him, Cornelius finds himself imprisoned and accused of political treason. Behind bars, he meets Rosa, the jailer's beautiful daughter, who becomes his unexpected ally in a tale of love, ambition, and horticultural intrigue.