Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas

Publisher Marketing: In which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names' ending in OS and IS, the heroes of the story which we are about to have the honor to relate to our readers have nothing mythological about them. A short time ago, while making researches in the Royal Library for my History of Louis XIV, I stumbled by chance upon the Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan, printed--as were most of the works of that period, in which authors could not tell the truth without the risk of a residence, more or less long, in the Bastille--at Amsterdam, by Pierre Rouge. The title attracted me; I took them home with me, with the permission of the guardian, and devoured them. It is not my intention here to enter into an analysis of this curious work; and I shall satisfy myself with referring such of my readers as appreciate the pictures of the period to its pages. They will therein find portraits penciled by the hand of a master; and although these squibs may be, for the most part, traced upon the doors of barracks and the walls of cabarets, they will not find the likenesses of Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Richelieu, Mazarin, and the courtiers of the period, less faithful than in the history of M. Anquetil. But, it is well known, what strikes the capricious mind of the poet is not always what affects the mass of readers. Now, while admiring, as others doubtless will admire, the details we have to relate, our main preoccupation concerned a matter to which no one before ourselves had given a thought. Contributor Bio:  Dumas, Alexandre One of the most widely read French authors in history, Alexandre Dumas is best-known for his iconic classic The Three Musketeers, as well as for The Count of Monte Cristo, and the two Musketeer sequels Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelome: Ten Years Later. Dumas began his writing career as a successful playwright, and later evolved to writing magazine articles and travel books, before extending his talents to fiction. His work has been translated into over one hundred languages and has been the subject of nearly two hundred film adaptations that include talent as varied as Leonardo DiCaprio, James Whale, and Mickey Mouse.