1925 Memoirs of Monsieur D'Artagnan of the King's Musketeers by Courtilz de Sandraz / The Inspiration For The Three Musketeers / 3 Volumes

In excellent condition, here is a beautiful three-volume set of Memoirs of Monsieur D'Artagnan - Captain Lieutenant of the 1st Company of the King's Musketeers by Courtilz de Sandraz. Published in three volumes by HS Nichols Ltd, London. A direct inspiration to Dumas’s The Three Musketeers and its sequels, which borrowed heavily from the tone and structure of the memoirs. This copy has scarcely been read as most of the pages remain uncut (see photos). 

A fascinating blend of fact and fiction, first published in 1700. Though presented as the autobiographical account of the real-life musketeer Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, the memoir is largely a work of imaginative historical fiction.

Courtilz de Sandras, a former soldier and prolific writer, crafted these memoirs in a vivid, picaresque style, full of political intrigue, duels, and courtly drama. He likely drew inspiration from stories he heard while imprisoned in the Bastille—where the warden had once served with the real d'Artagnan.

Dumas discovered Courtilz de Sandras’s memoirs while researching for a history of Louis XIV. He was captivated by a particular scene where d’Artagnan meets three young Béarnese men—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—in the antechamber of M. de Tréville. That moment sparked Dumas’s imagination, and he used it as the springboard for his own tale.

Inside the pages are clean, bright and tightly bound with no writing or markings of previous ownership. As mentioned above, some of the pages in Volume I, and almost all of the pages in Vols II and III, remain uncut. I have left them as they are in order that the new owner can experience opening them as original readers would have done 100 years ago. With a portrait frontispiece to Volume I, otherwise this is an unillustrated edition.

In striking dark-blue cloth covered boards with gold fleur-de-lys pattern and gilt decoration to the front and spine. All in top order. With just some slight rubbing to the corners and spine ends, and the odd light scuff - but minor. Has one small bump to the top corner of the rear board of Volume I. The gilt remains shiny bright, and this is an extremely eye-catching set.

Your antique three-volume set of The Memoirs of D'Artagnan will be wrapped with care in tissue and ribbon* and sent well packaged. A gift message can be included in the package if desired.

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Each book H 23 cm x W 16 cm, combined weight 2.6 kg. I dispatch worldwide daily from the UK. (There are just a very few countries which I am unable to ship to).

* If you would prefer for your book not to be decoratively wrapped and sent simply in the full packaging please add a note to the order.

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