Dumas | The Three Musketeers, London, 1846, half calf, first English edition

Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers, or, the feats and fortunes of a Gascon adventurer. Translated from the French, by William Barrow. London: Bruce and Wyld, 1846

8vo (190 x 123mm.), series title-page (The library of foreign romance, volume 1) and preface before main title-page, contemporary half calf, spine gilt in compartments, marbled edges, 2F3-6 slightly short at foot, occasional light staining, extremities slightly rubbed

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF THE THREE MUSKETEERS. Dumas's popular and influential novel was first published in La Siècle in 1844 in serial form, and the lack of copyright restrictions for French authors abroad meant that pirated editions and translations could quickly follow.

In 1846 Dumas's popularity in the English market was at its height, with numerous English translations being published, aimed at different categories of readers, from the aristocracy to the working classes, including Bowdlerised editions suitable for young ladies. The present translation, by William Barrow (1817-1877), was the first in a series of translations entitled The Library of Foreign Romance, designed to capitalise on this popularity for Dumas. Contemporary French romances were considered slightly risqué for ladies to read, but not too immoral, and they are mentioned repeatedly by contemporary readers. The Three Musketeers was at the time slightly less popular than The Count of Monte Cristo, but has endured longer in Anglophone culture.

PROVENANCE:

Robert J. Hayhurst, bookplate