The Vicomte de Bragelonne | Page 4

chapters of the third book of
the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1660-1661.
The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Etext 2609 (our new etext) - First 75
chapters of the third book of the D'Artagnan Romances. Covers the
year 1660.
Ten Years Later: forthcoming (our next etext) -

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: forthcoming (following) -

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

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 Mordaunt, the son of Milady, who seeks to
avenge his mother's death at the musketeers' hands, thwarts their valiant
efforts. Undaunted, our heroes return to France just in time to help save
the young Louis XIV, quiet the Fronde, and tweak the nose of Cardinal
Mazarin.
The third novel, The Vicomte de Bragelonne (serialized October, 1847
– January, 1850), has enjoyed a strange history in its English
translation. It has been split into three, four, or five volumes at various
points in its history. The five-volume edition generally does not give
titles to the smaller portions, but the others do. In the three- volume
edition, the novels are entitled