The Three Musketeers: Etext 1257—First book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1625-1628. Twenty Years After: Etext 1259—Second book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1648-1649. [Third in the order that we published, but second in time sequence!!!] Ten Years Later: Etext 1258—First 104 chapters of the third book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1660-1661. The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Etext 2609 (our new etext)—First 75 chapters of the third book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the year 1660. Ten Years Later: forthcoming (our next etext)—Chapters 76-140 of that third book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1660-1661. [In this particular editing of it] Louise de la Vallière: forthcoming (following)—Chapters 141-208 of the third book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the year 1661. The Man in the Iron Mask: forthcoming (completing)—Chapters 209-269 of the third book of the D’Artagnan Romances. Covers the years 1661-1673. 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. 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: