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PRODUCTION DETAILS
Limited to 750 hand-numbered copies
Bound in goatskin leather blocked in gold and black foils with a design by Roman Pisarev
Limitation etching printed on Hahnemühle Antique paper signed and numbered by the artist
Translated by William Barrow
Introduced by George MacDonald Fraser
Frontispiece and 11 black and white line drawings by Roman Pisarev
616 pages set in Monotype Ehrhardt with Goudy Text, Lombardic Capitals and Victoria Titling for display
Printed on Abbey Pure paper
Gilded page tops
10" x 6¾"
Presented in a hand-made paper-covered slipcase.
A CORNERSTONE OF WORLD LITERATURE
All for one; and one for all!
Inspired by real characters and events, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d’Artagnan’s fictionalised escapades, fighting for justice against the devious Cardinal Richelieu and the beguiling ‘Milady’, are now part of literary history. Amidst the clash of swords, chivalrous deeds, romantic trysts and imbibing of fine wine, Dumas weaves the injustices of the Ancien Régime into his narrative, giving the novel contemporary relevance when it was first serialised in Le Siècle in 1844, against the roiling backdrop of pre-February revolution France. Such is the influence of the novel, that the stirring unofficial motto of Switzerland, ‘All for one; and one for all’, remains better known as the collective refrain of the Musketeers.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS – AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
[Dumas] creates the thirst for reading and raises the human geniusVictor Hugo
Born in Picardy in 1802, Alexandre Dumas had a life as fascinating as his novels. The grandson of an enslaved Haitian woman and the son of France’s first mixed-race general, Dumas began his career as a scribe to the Duke of Orleans, the future King Louis Philippe. Magazine articles and theatre plays made way for novels, and such was their success that Dumas employed ghost-writers to keep pace with demand; most notably Auguste Maquet, who outlined the plot for The Three Musketeers.
An extravagant lifestyle and dozens of mistresses took their toll on Dumas’s fortune and, with his debtors in pursuit and the King ousted for the less favourably disposed President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Dumas went into exile in Belgium and Russia, finally returning to Paris in 1864. By the time of his death in 1870, Dumas had claimed authorship of some 1,200 books and remains one of the best-loved French authors.
ROMAN PISAREV – WORLD-RENOWNED ARTIST
Working from his St Petersburg studio, celebrated Russian artist Roman Pisarev has produced an exclusive new etching for The Three Musketeers. He printed each one by hand from the original brass plate and tore the borders of the Hahnemühle paper himself to create perfect limitation tips, which he has also signed and numbered.
There are a further 12 dramatic, fine-line illustrations, full of the energy and period detail for which the artist is renowned, and a newly commissioned binding design featuring d’Artagnan and his three comrades. Roman Pisarev has illustrated many Folio books including the splendid limited edition of The Count of Monte Cristo.
THE CLASSIC TRANSLATION INTRODUCED BY GEORGE MACDONALD FRASER
His Musketeers burst on the literary scene like a bomb; nothing like it had ever come from a Frenchman’s pen.George MacDonald Fraser
The first English translation of Les Trois Mousquetaires, by William Barrow in 1846, cemented its worldwide appeal and is widely considered to be the best, making it a natural choice for the Folio edition.
In his fascinating introduction, the late George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels, delights in the lavish narrative that so endeared Dumas to his readers and which continues to enthral more than 170 years later. As screenwriter for the 1973 film, Fraser was acutely aware of the magnetism of the gallant Musketeers, who veer between the vainglorious and the unashamedly romantic, and the rare storytelling talent of their creator.
WHAT MAKES THIS LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL
This lavish edition of the classic adventure story is bound in sumptuous burgundy goatskin leather, blocked in black and gold foils with a new design by Roman Pisarev. The top edge of each of the pages is gilded to match the gold of the foil and there is a burgundy ribbon to mark your place in this highly readable volume.
Our production team sourced the Hahnemühle Antique paper for the exclusive etchings, each hand-tipped onto the page facing the limitation piece which has been blocked in gold foil. Each etching has been printed by hand by the artist from the original brass plate so each is unique. Pisarev used Natural Sepia Lefranc & Bourgeois Charbonnel ink; when his supply ran out, it became clear that none was available in Russia so our production team sourced more from Portugal, even ink it seems is affected by the pandemic. A perfectionist, Pisarev chose to tear the borders of the etchings before signing and numbering each one.
The frontispiece and 11 further fine-line illustrations, also by Pisarev, were originally created for a Folio edition of Dumas’s masterpiece printed in 2001. Full of drama, they exuberantly break the frames of the plates, perfectly reflecting the action and suspense of the narrative. This is undoubtedly the ideal edition for the discerning collector.
