The following entries were published in the
Manual of Ready Reference to The Author's Digest, by Marion Mills Miller,
1927, Authors Press, NY.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS [PÈRE] (1802-1870), XIX. 160.
43.THE THREE MUSKETEERS
(1844), VII. 307.
1. History. 2. Adventure.3. Melodrama.
The story of four comrades-in-arms, who serve the Queen of France, and outwit her enemy Cardinal Richelieu and his clever agent, a female criminal. The agent is discovered to be the evil wife of one of the Musketeers. His private execution of her is the tragic climax of the story. Historic characters are Louis XIII., his queen, Richelieu, and the Duke of Buckingham.
44.THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
(1844), VII. 319.
1. Revenge. 2. Crime. 3. Adventure. 4. Wealth.
An innocent man is imprisoned by two men covetous, one of his place, one of his wife. He cleverly escapes from prison, gains possession of a great store of treasure, and incognito wreaks a terrible vengeance on his enemies.
45.TWENTY YEARS AFTER
(1845), VII. 331.
1. History. 2. Adventure.
A continuation of "The Three Musketeers." The four Musketeers take service under Cardinal Mazarin, the power behind the throne of Louis XIV. They aid him in the insurrection of the Fronde, and he sends them to England to aid Cromwell. Instead they attempt to rescue Charles I. of England from the block. In this they are foiled by the son of the criminal woman of "The Three Musketeers " (43). Returning to France they are imprisoned by the Cardinal, but soon reverse the situation by imprisoning him; he ransoms himself by giving the four Musketeers rewards and dignities.
46.THE CORSICAN BROTHERS
(1845), VII. 342.
1. Psychic Phenomena. 2. Revenge.
Twins, one in Paris, one in Corsica, are in telepathic accord with each other. The Parisian brother is killed in a duel, and the Corsican at once is mysteriously made cognizant of the fact, and, setting out for Paris, he challenges and kills the duellist.
47.THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE
(1845), VII. 350.
1. History. 2. Adventure.
A continuation of "Twenty Years After" (45). The four Musketeers aid in restoring Charles II. of England to his throne. With the son of one of them (the titular hero), they are implicated on opposing sides in the troubles between Fouquet and Louis XIV. Mazarin, Condé, Colbert, Queen Anne of Austria, Queen Henrietta Maria, and General Monk also appear in the story.
48.MARGUERITE DE VALOIS
(1845), VII. 361.
1. History. 2. Intrigue. 3. Tragedy.
The first of the "Queen Margery" series. Queen Marguerite of Valois, sister of Charles IX. and wife of Henry of Navarre, later Henry IV., is the central figure of a mesh of political and amorous intrigue. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew is the dominating situation. Historical characters are: Charles IX., his brother Henry, Henry of Navarre, Marguerite, Coligny, Guise, Alençon, and Catherine de' Medicis.
49.CHICOT THE JESTER
(1845), VII. 372.
1. History. 2. Adventure.
The second of the "Queen Margery" series. Adventures of minions of the court of Henry III., chief of whom is Bussy d'Amboise. He is in love with a lady of the court, whose husband leads a band of assassins against him, whom he annihilates before he is slain. The plot centers around the conspiracy of the Holy League to make the Duke of Anjou king. Catherine de' Medicis, Henry of Navarre, and Alençon also appear in the novel.
50.THE FORTY-FIVE GUARDSMEN
(1846), VII. 382.
1. History.
The third of the "Queen Margery" series. It relates the exploits, of a band of guards of Henry III., and the revenge of Bussy d'Amboise's mistress on his murderers, one of whom was the Duke of Anjou. The book ends with the alliance of Henry III. with Henry of Navarre against the Holy League, under the Duke of Guise, and the assassination of Henry III.
51.THE TWO DIANAS
(1846), VII. 392.
1. History.
The young Count Montgomery finds that his sweetheart Diana, daughter of Diana of Poitiers, has been married to another by the order of Henry II., who admits he is her father. She becomes a widow, and the Count is informed that another bar remains between themDiana of Poitiers was his father's mistress, and the count may be her daughter's half-brother. The daughter is immured in a convent. It is captured by the English, with whom the French are at war. The Count Montgomery storms the place and rescues her, only to see her immured again in a convent. By accident he kills the king in a tourney. He enters the religious wars as a Huguenot; is captured, and beheaded. The Duke of Guise, Coligny, Catherine de' Medicis, Francis II., and Mary Stuart also appear as characters in the story.
52.THE PAGE OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY
(1846), VII. 400.
1. History. 2. Magic.
The same historical events are treated as in "The Two Dianas" (51). A page of a royal duke is a girl in disguise. A tender but pure relation subsists between the two; she is a prophetess, and warns him of dangers ahead.
53.THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON-ROUGE
(1846), VII. 411.
1. History.
The hero is a royalist conspirator during the Revolution; he plots with a woman to rescue Queen Marie Antoinette from prison. Two revolutionists, one in love with her, are involved by a series of circumstances. The conspiracy fails, and the conspirators are executed.
54.JOSEPH BALSAMO
(1848), VII. 422.
1. History. 2. Charlatanism. 3. Hypnotism.
A romance founded on the career of Cagliostro, the charlatan. The names of Swedenborg, Fairfax, Paul Jones, Lavater, Ximenes, Rousseau, and Voltaire are introduced. Louis XV. and his mistress Du Barry enter into the story, and Balsamo predicts the fate of Marie Antoinette.
55.MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN
(1848), VIII. 1.
1. History. 2. Charlatanism. 3. Hypnotism. 4. Tragedy.
A continuation of "Joseph Balsamo" (54). It ends with the death of Louis XV. Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Madame Du Barry, Rousseau, and Marat are introduced in the story. Balsamo's medium, who is also his wife, is murdered by an old magician.
56.THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE
(1848), VIII. 12.
1. History. 2. Crime and its Detection. 3. Charlatanism. 4. Hypnotism.
A continuation of "Memoirs of a Physician" (55), containing the same elements of hypnotism and magic. Balsamo, now known as Cagliostro, prophesies the fates of various nobles. Mesmer is a character in the story. The plot narrates the theft of Marie Antoinette's diamond necklace by a clever adventuress who impersonates and compromises the Queen. Exposure of the woman exonerates the Queen, but the necklace is lost. Madame Du Barry, Cardinal de Rohan, and Louis XVI. also appear in the story.
57.THE BLACK TULIP
(1850), VIII. 23.
1. History. 2. Flowers. 3. Tragedy.
A tale of the "tulip mania" of Holland, in which the rivalry of two tulip-growers is implicated with the political events of the time. The execution of the De Witt brothers, and the administration of William of Nassau are described.
58.TAKING THE BASTILE
(1853), VIII. 31.
1. History.
A tale of the beginning of the French Revolution. A farmer and his workman are represented as leaders of the assault on the Bastile. Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, M. Necker, and Madame de Staël, Lafayette, and De Launay, Governor of the Bastile, appear in the story.
59.THE COUNTESS OF CHARNAY
(1853), VIII. 42.
1. History. 2. Charlatanism. 3. Invention.
Cagliostro reappears as the central figure of a group of revolutionary conspirators, including St. Just and the Duke of Orleans. Other new characters are Mirabeau, Guillotine (inventor of the beheading-machine), and Robespierre. Former characters are Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette (whose arrested flight from Versailles is described), Marat, and Lafayette.
60.ANDRÉE DE TAVERNEY
(1855), VIII. 53.
1. History. 2. Tragedy.
The execution of Louis XVI. and of Marie Antoinette is the central scene. The chief actors in the French Revolution appear: Bailly, Lafayette, Brissot, Condorcet, Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Narbonne, Dumouriez, Madame de Staël, Madame Roland, Napoleon Bonaparte, Rouget de I'lsle (composer of the Marseillaise), Vergniaud, and Cagliostro, who bears the name of Zanoni.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS [PÈRE] (1802-1870), XIX. 160.