The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the most popular novels by the French author Alexandre Dumas. It is an adventure novel set between 1815 and 1839 and tells the story of Edmond Dantès, a 19-year-old man who is falsely accused of treason and arrested. The story has become incredibly influential and has been adapted and imitated countless times.

The book was first published serially in the Journal des Débats between August 1844 and January 1846. This four-volume set was printed in Brussels in 1846.

Queen Victoria began reading The Count of Monte Cristo on 2 December 1845, reporting in her Journal that she found the book “most interesting”. She would continue to read the book through the winter, at times reading it to Prince Albert, and finished it on 23 February 1846 declaring it “is a most interesting novel, & so beautifully written – so full of power”. Dumas would become one of Queen Victoria’s favourite authors during the late 1840s and early 1850s.