Dumas, Alexander

Les Trois Mousquetaires

Paris: Calman Lévy, 1894 Inscribed on the flyleaf to Swinburne's friend, guardian, watchdog, and caretaker, Theodore Watts-Dunton: "Walter Theodore Watts / from his friend / Algernon Charles Swinburne / Christimas Day / 1898." Alexandre Dumas was an author dear to Swinburne's heart, and in this Christmas presentation there is a particularly fine and close association involving Watts, Swinburne and the French novelist. Philip Henderson, in his biography, SWINBURNE (New York, 1974) describes Watts' efforts to wean the poet from his heavy drinking habit by gradually first substituting port for Swinburne's habitual brandy, then, after a while, burgundy for port, then claret for burgundy, etc., etc., until, by declension, Watts had succeeded in reducing Swinburne's consumption to one glass of British ale per day -- and all this with a literary finesse which inspired Swinburne to believe that he himself was making the choice. When the time to switch from port to burgundy had arrived, a close friend, Coulson Kernahan observed that Watts would exclaim: "...there is nothing so find as good, enerous old Burgundy. It's blood-making, nerve-strengthening, body- building, brain-firing. It's the wine that our Dumas' immortal Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Artemis, not forgetting the finest fellow of them all, D'Artagnan, thrived on, made love on, fought on; and most of all - you are half a Frenchman, you tell me - it is the wine of your own La Belle France. I picked up a case the other day, and I propose we sample a bottle at lunch, if only to drink to Dumas and the immortal three." (Henderson, p. 231). Adding to the interest here, is a tipped-in quotation from an an author even dearer to Swinburne, Victor Hugo, in Swinburne's hand: "(Hugo on parting from Dumas) "Tu rentras dans ton œuvre éclatante, innombrable, "Multiple, éblouissante, heureuse, où le jour luit, "Et moi, dans l'unité sinistre de la nuit." (SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES) 2 vols., 4to. . 3/4 morocco and cloth, marbled endpapers

• USD 1,500.00 > Andere Währungen
• Bestellnummer: 37627

• Antiquariat: James Cummins Bookseller Inc. (USA)