In consultation with Romani as to the subject, it was agreed that it would be based on the novel "L'Étrangère" of 1825 by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt, and planned for the premiere on the opening night of the season on 26 December. In the 1820s, the popularity of this author, upon whom was bestowed the epithet "the prince of the romantics", rivalled that of Victor Hugo. Prévot's "Le Solitaire" appeared in 1821 and achieved an "extraordinary, even colossal, celebrity." In the space of several months, the book was reprinted a dozen times; it was translated into ten languages; there were no fewer than seven operas based on its story, and twice as many dramatic adaptations; and it was the subject of innumerable songs, parodies, paintings and lithographs. The success of his next three novels, "Le Renégat" in 1822, "Ipsiboé" in 1823, and "L'Étrangère" in 1825, was almost as great.