The Two Dianas; The Taking of Calais + The Chatelet + The Comte de Montgomery
roman/novel, pub:1846-1847, action:1521-1574
Gabriel de Montgomery takes Calais from the English, rescues Diana de Castro, is thwarted by Henri II's mistress Diana de Poitier, accidentally kills Henri II in a joust.
Oeuvres/Related Works The Two Dianas - New York, A. L. Burt, n.d., The Home Library, bef. 1911 The Two Dianas I - New York, P. F. Collier & Son, n.d., The Works of Alexandre Dumas in Thirty Volumes (vol. 18), blue cloth, gilt spine The Two Dianas II - New York, P. F. Collier & Son, n.d., The Works of Alexandre Dumas in Thirty Volumes (vol. 19), blue cloth, gilt spine
From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: This romance is usually accredited entirely to Paul Meurice, and indeed there is little of the sprightliness and rapid movement which we have grown to expect from Dumas. At the same time it is to be noted that several of the band of adventurers who play a minor part in "Ascanio" again appear. Moreover, they are once more to the fore in "Le Page du Duc de Savoie," which Dumas wrote alone; and he even uses one or two at an impossibly anterior date in his drama "La Tour de Saint-Jacques." Meurice, it may be noted, is thought to have had a small share in "Ascanio." In 1865 this last named produced a dramatised version of "Les Deux Diane," in which Dumas had no hand, and to which he made no objection. (See under the date of 1865.) Some think that Dumas sketched the plot.
The two Dianas are Madame de Poitiers and her daughter Madame de Castro. The period is 1521-74, and includes the taking of Calais, the battle of Saint-Quentin, the death of Henri II. and the First Religious Wars.
Original edition : Paris, Cadot, 10 vols-, 8vo., 1846-47.
It now occupies three volumes in the standard Calmann-Lévy edition, and one in their "Musée Littéraire."
In Le Vasseur's "Alexandre Dumas Illustré" it is in Vol. X.
References :— Quérard: "Supercheries Littéraires Dévoilées," Vol. I., Column 1114. Parran: "Bibliographie d'Alex. Dumas," pp. 55-56. Glinel: "Alex. Dumas et Son Œuvre," page 399.
Principal English Translations :—
"The Two Dianas;" London, Simms and Macintyre (later Hodgson), "Parlour Library," pp. 336, 1857.
"The Two Dianas;" London, Clarke, 12mo., 1859.
"The Two Dianas;" London, Routledge, 1867. This abridged translation has been frequently reprinted.
"The Two Dianas;" London, Dent, 3 vols., cr. 8vo., illustrated, 1894. Reprinted, same firm, in 2 vols., 1907 and 1926.
London, Methuen, three parts, sewed, 1909-10. Successively titled: "The Taking of Calais," "The Chatelet," and "The Comte de Montgomery."
