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Published: July 13, 2015, 12:53 p.m.

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Edmond Rostand\'s hit play Cyrano de Bergerac met an unexpected obstacle in 1898 -- a Chicago real estate developer who claimed that it plagiarized his own play. In this week\'s podcast we\'ll review the strange controversy and the surprising outcome of the lawsuit that followed.

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We\'ll also hear an update on the German author who popularized an American West that he had never seen and puzzle over a Civil War private who refuses to fight.

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Sources for our feature on Cyrano de Bergerac and The Merchant Prince of Cornville:

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"Gross-Rostand Controversy," in George Childs Kohn, New Encyclopedia of American Scandal, 2001.

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Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1897.

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Samuel Eberly Gross, The Merchant Prince of Cornville, 1896.

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Jay Pridmore, "Recalling \'Merchant Prince\' of the 1880s,"\\xa0Chicago Tribune, Feb. 28, 1992.

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"Chronicle and Comment,"\\xa0The Bookman, November 1910.

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The Critic, February 1899, p. 116.

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"Samuel Gross\'s Cyrano,"\\xa0New York Times, June 1, 1902.

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"Rostand Indignant,"\\xa0The Pittsburgh Press, June 1, 1902.

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"Rostand\'s Champion,"\\xa0The Carroll Herald, June 4, 1902.

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"\'Cyrano de Bergerac\' a Plagiarism,"\\xa0Boston Evening Transcript, May 21, 1902.

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"The Law and the Nose,"\\xa0Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 10, 1902.

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"Dollar Is Spent,"\\xa0The Milwaukee Journal, Sept. 17, 1902.

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Listener mail:

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Wikipedia, Hadschi Halef Omar\\xa0(retrieved July 8, 2015).

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Dschinghis Khan\'s disco song "Hadschi Halef Omar" is here. Translated lyrics are here.

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Listener Kriszti\\xe1n Vida sent links to some\\xa0pages and a video\\xa0on "American Indians" in Central Europe.

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Wikipedia, Emilio Salgari\\xa0(retrieved July 8, 2015).

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This week\'s lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jackie Speir.

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You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes\\xa0or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset.

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Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page\\xa0you can pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, and we\'ve set up some rewards to help thank you for your support.

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You can also make a one-time donation via the Donate button in the sidebar of the Futility Closet website.

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Many thanks to Doug Ross\\xa0for the music in this episode.

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If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. You can also follow us on Facebook\\xa0and Twitter. Thanks for listening!

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