Easton Press: The Three Musketeers: Alexander Dumas

Easton Press FULL leather top-of-the-line edition of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers," Illustrated by Edy Legrand, a Limited edition, one of the 100 GREATEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN series, published in 1978. Bound in a Most Handsome Moroccan leather, the book has  French moire silk endleaves, 22 kt. gold gilding on three edges, satin book marker, hubbed spines----in near FINE condition. Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802 in northeastern France, the son of a general who died in the Revolution when Alexandre was four years old. Dumas wrote for the Comedy Francaise. "The Three Musketeers" was published serially in 1844, tripling the newspaper's circulation. D'ARTAGNAN is the central character of the novel, a young, impoverished Gascon nobleman who comes to make his fortune in Paris. He is brave, noble, ambitious, crafty, and intelligent. Like any Romantic hero, he is driven by love and ruled by chivalry, but occasionally prone to fall into amoral behavior. ATHOS is the most important of the "Three Musketeers," a father figure to d'Artagnan. He is older than his comrades, although still a young man. Athos is distinguished in every way--intellect, appearance, bravery, swordsmanship--yet he is tortured by a deep melancholy, the source of which no one knows. ARAMIS is a youngest of the three Musketeers. He is a handsome young man, quiet and somewhat foppish. He constantly protests that he is only temporarily in the Musketeers, and that any day now he will return to the Church to pursue his true calling. Aramis has a mysterious mistress, Madame de Chevreuse, a high noblewoman, whose existence and identity he tries to keep from his friends. PORTHOS, the third of the Three Musketeers, is loud, brash, and self-important. He is extremely vain, and enjoys outfitting himself handsomely; but for all that, he is a valiant fighter and a courageous friend. His mistress is Madame Coquenard, the wife of a wealthy attorney. Other characters include: Madame Bonacieux, the Wife of Monsieur Bonacieux and lady-in-waiting for Queen Anne. Madame Bonacieux is loyal to the Queen. D'Artagnan falls in love with her, and in doing so gets involved in the Queen's secret affairs. KING LOUIS XIII is the King of France. Louis XIII is not much of a ruler, and is dominated by his advisors, most notably CARDINAL RICHELIEU, the most powerful man in France. He is a petulant and petty person, and those around him who are most successful are those who have learned to manipulate his pettiness. Richelieu works hard to maintain the reputation and power of the king, since this is the stock on which his own status is based. Queen Anne, the Queen of France, is Spanish, and her loyalties are divided between her Spanish heritage and her position as Queen of France, and her love for George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. The King does not trust her, or particularly like her, and the Cardinal hates her. Anne leads an unhappy life in the court. George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham is Minister of War for King CHARLES I of England. Buckingham is the perfect English gentleman, handsome, witty, brave, wealthy, and powerful. He is desperately in love with Anne of Austria, who, more reservedly, returns his affections. Throughout the novel, Buckingham's only motivation is to see and please Anne. A couple minor characters include: Comte de Rochefort - The Cardinal's private spy, a dangerous man and Comte de Wardes, a Cardinalist agent; Milady is in love with him. The novel has been repeatedly reprinted, translated, excerpted, bowdlerized, parodied, plagiarized, staged, filmed---and loved by MILLIONS of people. FOLKS, this is a FABULOUS novel. Buyer pays $6.00 media or $8.50 priority shipping or actual charges world-wide. Seller will combine multiple bids for postal savings. Seller accepts money orders, cashier's checks, PayPal, or personal checks---held until check clears bank-- or immediate shipment with 50 positive feedbacks on Ebay. Good luck and see my other Franklin Library and Easton Press books.