From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: During this year M. Jules Noriac, the publisher of the journal "Les Nouvelles," asked Dumas for a serial romance. "What kind of romance?" asked the author.—"Why, an historical one, such as you so well know how to construct."—"Very willingly," was the reply, and there resulted "Le Comte de Moret."
Very little is known about this work, though much has been said. Neither in France nor in Belgium was it issued in book form. Our only source of information is therefore a very poor American translation, and that has eluded all efforts to secure a copy. Yet, to judge by a few extracts given in the volume entitled "Short Stories by Alexandre Dumas" (Walter J. Black Co., New York, 1927), this romance was worthy of a better fate, even though, as is also claimed, it was never finished.
It is a story of the imaginary career of that Comte Antoine de Moret, son of Henri IV., who is supposed to have been killed at the battle of Castelnaudary, but whom persistent rumour declared had escaped, to live to a ripe old age, and finally die a hermit in Anjou. Though questioned personally by Louis XIV., this old man would never either admit or deny the claims made by others as to his identity. Period 1607 and later.
It ran serially through "Les Nouvelles."
References :—
Ferry: "Dernières Années d'A. Dumas," pp. 40 ff.
"Favourites of Henry of Navarre" (by "Le Petit Homme Rouge"), note on the Count of Moret, page 298.
English Translations :—
"The Count of Moret," translated by H. L. Williams, Jnr., Philadelphia, Peterson Bros., pp. 160, 1868. (This translation states that the plot was prepared in 1842, which looks as though Dumas had supplied it with a preface.)
Several considerable extracts appeared in the "Short Stories (sic) of Alexandre Dumas;" New York, Walter J. Black Co., 1927.
From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed:
For long this excellent romance was only known in serial
issue and in a truly wretched American translation. Being
unknown, it suffered from the decrying of ignorance, when by
chance any biographer did mention it, which was seldom. Once
or twice there was made some announcement of coming publication,
but always for the project to fade away. After much effort to
secure a run of "Les Nouvelles," I had photostats taken from
the full tale of its feuilletons. Only then was it discovered
that there were missing from the Bibliothèque Nationale eight
numbers, each containing a portion of the story - and no other
file was known. Meantime I had translated all the material
available. There was but one thing to be done: get the lost
passages copied from the miserable American translation and
rewrite them in a manner more worthy of Dumas. Two copies
alone of the American's effort seem to be known; on is in the
British Museum, the other in the New York Public Library. A
friend had commenced work on the former of these when the
bombing of London closed the museum. He had copied for me
four of the missing eight sections. Another friend was then
enlisted, who obtained photostats of three more from New York,
but the last, the eighth, could not be provided, for it fell
within a sequence of ten chapters which the translator had
not troubled to include in his work. Still, the unexpected
occurred once more; there had been a Spanish rendering, recently
recovered and issued at Buenos Aires from an old Spanish
magazine of the 1860's. Thus, in one way and another at last
the complete story was available. One may add, as a curiosity,
that the American, dissatisfied with Dumas' ending and unaware
that there was a sequel in existence, added two chapters of his own.
My translation was completed in 1939. Then, in 1946, was
discovered in a Paris garret a holograph of this story in Dumas'
hand. Seemingly the first sheet, that containing the title,
had been lost, for it was published as "Le Sphinx Rouge." But
this issue is incomplete. Dumas wrote four volumes, but only
the first three are here presented. Moreover to the full text
it is necessary, in order to satisfy readers, that there should
be added "La Colombe," the sequel to "Le Comte de Moret."
In this romance the historical portraits are particularly
good, being far more full than in the almost contemporary "Les
Trois Mousquetaires."
