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.
Many thanks to Dr. David Coward, whose editions of the D’Artagnan Romances have proved an invaluable source of information.
Contents
| [Introduction] |
| [Chapter I. Malaga.] |
| [Chapter II. A Letter from M. Baisemeaux.] |
| [Chapter III. In Which the Reader will be Delighted to Find that Porthos Has Lost Nothing of His Muscularity.] |
| [Chapter IV. The Rat and the Cheese.] |
| [Chapter V. Planchet’s Country-House.] |
| [Chapter VI. Showing What Could Be Seen from Planchet’s House.] |
| [Chapter VII. How Porthos, Truchen, and Planchet Parted with Each Other on Friendly Terms, Thanks to D’Artagnan.] |
| [Chapter VIII. The Presentation of Porthos at Court.] |
| [Chapter IX. Explanations.] |
| [Chapter X. Madame and De Guiche.] |
| [Chapter XI. Montalais and Malicorne.] |
| [Chapter XII. How De Wardes Was Received at Court.] |
| [Chapter XIII. The Combat.] |
| [Chapter XIV. The King’s Supper.] |
| [Chapter XV. After Supper.] |
| [Chapter XVI. Showing in What Way D’Artagnan Discharged the Mission with Which the King Had Intrusted Him.] |
| [Chapter XVII. The Encounter.] |
| [Chapter XVIII. The Physician.] |
| [Chapter XIX. Wherein D’Artagnan Perceives that It Was He Who Was Mistaken, and Manicamp Who Was Right.] |
| [Chapter XX. Showing the Advantage of Having Two Strings to One’s Bow.] |
| [Chapter XXI. M. Malicorne the Keeper of the Records of France.] |
| [Chapter XXII. The Journey.] |
| [Chapter XXIII. Triumfeminate.] |
| [Chapter XXIV. The First Quarrel.] |
| [Chapter XXV. Despair.] |
| [Chapter XXVI. The Flight.] |
| [Chapter XXVII. Showing How Louis, on His Part, Had Passed the Time from Ten to Half-Past Twelve at Night.] |
| [Chapter XXVIII. The Ambassadors.] |
| [Chapter XXIX. Chaillot.] |
| [Chapter XXX. Madame.] |
| [Chapter XXXI. Mademoiselle de la Valliere’s Pocket-Handkerchief.] |
| [Chapter XXXII. Which Treats of Gardeners, of Ladders, and Maids of Honor.] |
| [Chapter XXXIII. Which Treats of Carpentry Operations, and Furnishes Details upon the Mode of Constructing Staircases.] |
| [Chapter XXXIV. The Promenade by Torchlight.] |
| [Chapter XXXV. The Apparition.] |
| [Chapter XXXVI. The Portrait.] |
| [Chapter XXXVII. Hampton Court.] |
| [Chapter XXXVIII. The Courier from Madame.] |
| [Chapter XXXIX. Saint-Aignan Follows Malicorne’s Advice.] |
| [Chapter XL: Two Old Friends.] |
| [Chapter XLI. Wherein May Be Seen that a Bargain Which Cannot Be Made with One Person, Can Be Carried Out with Another.] |
| [Chapter XLII. The Skin of the Bear.] |
| [Chapter XLIII. An Interview with the Queen-Mother.] |
| [Chapter XLIV. Two Friends.] |
| [Chapter XLV. How Jean de La Fontaine Came to Write His First Tale.] |
| [Chapter XLVI. La Fontaine in the Character of a Negotiator.] |
| [Chapter XLVII. Madame de Belliere’s Plate and Diamonds.] |
| [Chapter XLVIII. M. de Mazarin’s Receipt.] |
| [Chapter XLIX. Monsieur Colbert’s Rough Draft.] |
| [Chapter L: In Which the Author Thinks It Is High Time to Return to the Vicomte de Bragelonne.] |
| [Chapter LI. Bragelonne Continues His Inquiries.] |
| [Chapter LII. Two Jealousies.] |
| [Chapter LIII. A Domiciliary Visit.] |
| [Chapter LIV. Porthos’s Plan of Action.] |
| [Chapter LV. The Change of Residence, the Trap-Door, and the Portrait.] |
| [Chapter LVI. Rivals in Politics.] |
| [Chapter LVII. Rivals in Love.] |
| [Chapter LVIII. King and Noble.] |
| [Chapter LIX. After the Storm.] |
| [Chapter LX. Heu! Miser!] |
| [Chapter LXI. Wounds within Wounds.] |
| [Chapter LXII. What Raoul Had Guessed.] |
| [Chapter LXIII. Three Guests Astonished to Find Themselves at Supper Together.] |
| [Chapter LXIV. What Took Place at the Louvre During the Supper at the Bastile.] |
| [Chapter LXV. Political Rivals.] |
| [Chapter LXVI. In Which Porthos Is Convinced without Having Understood Anything.] |
| [Chapter LXVII. M. de Baisemeaux’s “Society.”] |
| [Footnotes:] |
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.