Louise de la Valliere | Page 4

the four-volume edition. To add to the confusion, in the case
of our etexts, it refers to the first 104 chapters of the whole book,
covering material in the first and second etexts in the new series. Here
is a guide to the series which may prove helpful:
The Three Musketeers: Etext 1257 - First book of the D'Artagnan
Romances. Covers the years 1625-1628.

Twenty Years After: Etext 1259 - Second book of the D'Artagnan
Romances. Covers the years 1648-1649. [Third in the order that we
published, but second in time sequence!!!]
Ten Years Later: Etext 1258 - First 104 chapters of the third book of
the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1660-1661.
The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Etext 2609 (first in the new series) - First
75 chapters of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the
year 1660.
Ten Years Later: Etext 2681 (second in the new series) -

Chapters
76-140 of that third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the
years 1660-1661. [In this particular editing of it]
Louise de la Valliere: Etext 2710 (our new text) -

Chapters
141-208 of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the
year 1661.
The Man in the Iron Mask: forthcoming (our next text) -

Chapters
209-269 of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the
years 1661-1673.
If we've calculated correctly, that fourth text SHOULD correspond to
the modern editions of The Man in the Iron Mask, which is still widely
circulated, and comprises about the last 1/4 of The Vicomte de
Bragelonne.
Here is a list of the other Dumas Etexts we have published so far:
Sep 1999 La Tulipe Noire, by Alexandre
Dumas[Pere#6/French][tlpnrxxx.xxx]1910 This is an abridged edition
in French, also see our full length English Etext Jul 1997 The Black
Tulip, by Alexandre Dumas[Pere][Dumas#1][tbtlpxxx.xxx] 965 Jan
1998 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre
Dumas[Pere][crstoxxx.xxx]1184

Many thanks to Dr. David Coward, whose editions of the D'Artagnan
Romances have proved an invaluable source of information.
Introduction: In the months of March-July in 1844, in the magazine Le
Siecle, the first portion of a story appeared, penned by the celebrated
playwright Alexandre Dumas. It was based, he claimed, on some
manuscripts he had found a year earlier in the Bibliotheque Nationale
while researching a history he planned to write on Louis XIV. They
chronicled the adventures of a young man named D'Artagnan who,
upon entering Paris, became almost immediately embroiled in court
intrigues, international politics, and ill-fated affairs between royal
lovers. Over the next six years, readers would enjoy the adventures of
this youth and his three famous friends, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, as
their exploits unraveled behind the scenes of some of the most
momentous events in French and even English history.
Eventually these serialized adventures were published in novel form,
and became the three D'Artagnan Romances known today. Here is a
brief summary of the first two novels:
The Three Musketeers (serialized March - July, 1844): The year is
1625. The young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris at the tender age of 18,
and almost immediately offends three musketeers, Porthos, Aramis,
and Athos. Instead of dueling, the four are attacked by five of the
Cardinal's guards, and the courage of the youth is made apparent during
the battle. The four become fast friends, and, when asked by
D'Artagnan's landlord to find his missing wife, embark upon an
adventure that takes them across both France and England in order to
thwart the plans of the Cardinal Richelieu. Along the way, they
encounter a beautiful young spy, named simply Milady, who will stop
at nothing to disgrace Queen Anne of Austria before her husband,
Louis XIII, and take her revenge upon the four friends.
Twenty Years After (serialized January - August, 1845): The year is
now 1648, twenty years since the close of the last story. Louis XIII has
died, as has Cardinal Richelieu, and while the crown of France may sit
upon the head of Anne of Austria as Regent for the young Louis XIV,
the real power resides with the Cardinal Mazarin, her secret husband.
D'Artagnan is now a lieutenant of musketeers, and his three friends
have retired to private life. Athos turned out to be a nobleman, the
Comte de la Fere, and has retired to his home with his son, Raoul de

Bragelonne. Aramis, whose real name is D'Herblay, has followed his
intention of shedding the musketeer's cassock for the priest's robes, and
Porthos has married a wealthy woman, who left him her fortune upon
her death. But trouble is stirring in both France and England. Cromwell
menaces the institution of royalty itself while marching against Charles
I, and at home the Fronde is threatening to tear France apart.
D'Artagnan brings his friends out of retirement to save the threatened
English monarch, but