# Is "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (Bruce and Wyld, "Library of Foreign Romance", 1846) is identified by: Rival English translations of Dumas's serial proliferated within months of its 1844 French publication. Strict chronological priority for any appearance in English belongs to the two 1846 American translations, followed by the abridged Vickers London serialization; Bruce and Wyld's Barrow translation, though fourth in that sequence and frequently mismarketed by dealers as the first English edition, is the version generally collected as the first complete and unabridged English text, since the earlier printings were all abridged.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Rival English translations of Dumas's serial proliferated within months of its 1844 French publication
- Two abridged and bowdlerized American translations came first in 1846: one issued in Baltimore by Taylor & Wilde and one in New York and Baltimore by William Taylor and Company as 'The Three Guardsmen,' translated by Park Benjamin
- Vickers of London then serialized a further abridged version in penny parts from January to May 1846, omitting the dinner scene at Maitre Coquenard's and interpolating an entirely new final chapter that Dumas never wrote
- Bruce and Wyld's 'Library of Foreign Romance,' translated by William Barrow, followed in sixpenny parts from March to May 1846 with book issue promptly after; bibliographers Munro and Reed rank it fourth in strict chronological sequence, even though dealers often market it as the first English edition
- It is nonetheless generally treated as the first complete and textually faithful English translation, since all three earlier printings were abridged
- Publisher imprint reads Bruce and Wyld, "Library of Foreign Romance"
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alexandre Dumas |
| Publisher | Bruce and Wyld, "Library of Foreign Romance" |
| Year | 1846 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Rival English translations of Dumas's serial proliferated within months of its 1844 French publication |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Rival English translations of Dumas's serial proliferated within months of its 1844 French publication. Two abridged and bowdlerized American translations came first in 1846: one issued in Baltimore by Taylor & Wilde and one in New York and Baltimore by William Taylor and Company as 'The Three Guardsmen,' translated by Park Benjamin. Vickers of London then serialized a further abridged version in penny parts from January to May 1846, omitting the dinner scene at Maitre Coquenard's and interpolating an entirely new final chapter that Dumas never wrote. Bruce and Wyld's 'Library of Foreign Romance,' translated by William Barrow, followed in sixpenny parts from March to May 1846 with book issue promptly after; bibliographers Munro and Reed rank it fourth in strict chronological sequence, even though dealers often market it as the first English edition. It is nonetheless generally treated as the first complete and textually faithful English translation, since all three earlier printings were abridged.

## Is this the true first?
Strict chronological priority for any appearance in English belongs to the two 1846 American translations, followed by the abridged Vickers London serialization; Bruce and Wyld's Barrow translation, though fourth in that sequence and frequently mismarketed by dealers as the first English edition, is the version generally collected as the first complete and unabridged English text, since the earlier printings were all abridged.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Countless later reprints, including William Robson's 1853 translation for Routledge's 'Railway Library,' are unconnected single-volume editions with no relation to the original 1846 serial parts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Three Musketeers* by Alexandre Dumas a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-three-musketeers
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.