Les Trois Mousquetaires
Original edition "of an unmatched masterpiece. One of the most widely read books in the entire world" (Dictionary of Works).
Attractive copy, with wide margins, preserved in its period bindings.
8 volumes in-8, half midnight-blue sheepskin, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, some marginal restorations not affecting the text, some spots and water stains. Contemporary binding.
200 x 125 mm.
First edition “of an unparalleled masterpiece. One of the most widely read books in the world”
(Dictionary of Works).
Vicaire, III, 359-360; Carteret, I, 235.
“Rare and highly sought after. Extremely rare in fine contemporary condition, fetches very high prices” (Clouzot).
First published in Le Siècle between March 14 and July 14, 1844, the work immediately gained universal acclaim, thanks to its legendary heroes who not only haunt the book but the collective subconscious: D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis (In French in the Text, no. 263).
“The heroes of these adventures are four gentlemen, inseparable friends, musketeers of Louis XIII: Athos, in reality the Count de la Fère, was ruined by a tragic marriage to an adventuress; he became a musketeer out of despair, with a romantic, noble, and proud spirit; Porthos, whose real name is du Vallon, is a good-natured and vain giant; Aramis, or the Chevalier d’Herblay, torn from his religious calling by a romantic affair, continuously oscillates between a vague mysticism, a Jesuit-like skill in intrigue, secret and highly aristocratic loves, and a fiery bravery. To these first three companions joins d’Artagnan, a courageous and cunning Gascon, who arrives from his native province, driven by the wildest ambitions and a meager fortune; he will become the hero of the story.”
The skill with which this work is crafted is unmatched in any other of its kind.
Alongside the serialized novel, which had just appeared with Eugène Sue’s The Mysteries of Paris, Alexandre Dumas created a new genre by exploiting the attraction that French history had for the public and by taking advantage of the publication of chronicles and memoirs undertaken following the vast movement that had created modern history in France at the beginning of the 19th century. As the founder of this genre, Dumas remained its model.
Attractive copy, with wide margins, preserved in its contemporary bindings.
