DLE - The Three Musketeers

I see there is a new two-volume DLE of Dumas' classic with 250 Leloire drawings, Item #1276. The FL edition has the same drawings, but not all 250 of them.

>2 astropi:: What do I click if I'm not excited but am likely to purchase it?

3: I would say you should click yes. The choices are really:

a)Are you excited and likely
b)Are you excited.
c)Are you likely.

Since you're not excited, but are likely, therefore "yes" :)

>4 astropi:: That makes no sense.

Of the three choices I am negative on two:

a) Are you excited and likely = NO
b) Are you excited = NO
c) Are you likely = YES

So wouldn't it be more logical to vote no since the negative responses outweigh the positive?

5: I would say no, meaning you should vote yes, because the question is positive as long as you have a positive, so you have:

0 || 0 || 1 = 1

:)

edit: it's all because of that and/or

Ahhh! Ok, I'm with you now. "Are you excited or are you likely to purchase it." All makes sense to me now.

Okay. But what if I'm gabrielac and I'm going to purchase one hundred copies? The voter thing won't let me vote one hundred times.

>1 Tom41:: Any info on limitation number?

>1 Tom41:

Anyone have a brochure yet? I'm partial to just about anything Dumas. If EP came out with a quality Count of Monte Christo DLE I'd poop myself just before buying it.............but I'd definately buy it.

8: eh, yeah, well I guess that would be a single yes then, since quantity is not taken into account.

9: not yet, but if I had to guess I would say 300. Of course, it's subject to change at the last minute.

10: go change your pants!

>11 astropi:

I REGRET NOTHING!

Here is a link to the original on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dumas-THREE-MUSKETEERS-2-vols-1894-LELOIR-Illust-/3103107905...

I could be tempted but I have had a lot of quality issues on recent EP Limited Editions, and this is making me very hesitant. I might wait and see if there are any quality issues before committing.

>13 Tom41:

This appears to be a better deal than the EP
Why buying a fake for 3 times the price?

Although, I love this story, which makes me glad to see it in a Deluxe Edition; I wish they had instead printed a new set containing all of the d'Artagnan Romances, with the third volume split up into 3 separate titles. Maybe something like the following list:

1. The Three Musketeers
2. Twenty Years After
3. The Vicomte de Bragelonne
4. Louise de la Vallière
5. The Man in the Iron Mask

>16 Arknight: I agree with you completely. This would be much, much more appealing.

My sense is that E/P doesn't want to invest anything in design, opting instead to reproduce work that has already been done.

>14 Quicksilver66:

The recent quality issues are one of the main things keeping me from buying this DLE. Interesting how the original on Ebay is cheaper than this one though.

>16 Arknight:

I completely agree. If they maybe had all the books in the DLE that'd probably be a whole 'nother story.

>10 Goran:: Be sure to lay in a supply of clean boxers ;-)

> 15

1) Already sold, not clear if you can purchase another copy at the same price
2) Leather binding
3) Acid free paper
4) Overall condition

15: only thing that comes to mind is condition. How expensive is an original in fine condition?

21: I would assume the pages are acid free, but if not, then the question becomes why would you purchase an original if its eventually going to turn to crud?

>9 iluvbeckett: limited to 400

I don't know, now that I have seen it full page in the catalogue, it has a lot more appeal. Though still probably too pricey for that particular story given the easy access to the text elsewhere. On the fence.

They've begun shipping. Got mine yesterday.

25: pics + impressions would be wonderful!

Okay, all those who have received these books are now on holiday, have plenty of spare time, and possibly new cameras with which to wow us with your Three Musketeers purchase. Let's see some photos already!

> 27 really good point! Considering we are still waiting for pics of the William Flint Chaucer

28: as wail would say, "Word!"

>29 astropi:: As SilentInaWay would say, too ... perhaps too silently for some to notice.

<whispering>word!</whispering>

I'll post some but can anyone point me toward a thread with directions on posting pictures?

This is my first attempt at uploading pictures and making a review for you guys.
I'm not a bibliophile quite yet so take my review with a grain of salt. I've purchased about half of the DLE's so far but I haven't opened all of them yet for a comprehensive contrast. I'm still not sure I can afford to keep them all...
As you can see I've photographed them against History of the Crusades and Don Quixote from the 100 Greatest for proportion. I've also included a few pictures in my personal library setting.




The volumes inside the slipcase were shrink wrapped as well as the slipcase which would be expected.
First impression, the smell. I've not experienced the smell of a newly minted leather book quite like this and I have to admit it was intoxicating.

My copy was #32. The endpapers really matched the colors of the books but I don't really care about endpapers all that much.


Quality, the volumes arrived in adequate shape for me. There was one corner of one volume that took a ding prior to packing in the slipcase where there is a slight seperation of the binding in the corner. Again, fine for me.

As far as I know History of the Crusades is the only DLE with the soft leather feel so these volumes fall somewhere in between History and a standard Easton volume.
There is no gold gilt to the cover or spine of the books but interestingly there is gilt around the inside edges.

The impression on the cover is a deep red and difficult to photograph with my inadequate iPhone pictures but I like it.

The engravings seemed sharp and clean but I'm no expert.






I'll try to add more books to the thread as I figure it out.
My overall recommendation. These are worth getting. Three Musketeers holds a special place for me and is one of the few DLE's that I can imagine reading more than once or my kids reading.

>34 boddhidharma:, great photo's, thanks for sharing!

As busy said, great photos and thanks!

34: Your library pics are delightful. I love seeing a large collection of leather books all lined up on shelves.

>34 boddhidharma: Thank you. We just got all 3 shelves on Craigslist for $160! I'm really slowing down on my collection now that I've completed the 100(125) Greatest, Books That Changed the World and Franklin Pulitzer Prize series. I hope they don't have many more DLE's I want this year...ugh...

>34 boddhidharma:: RE: "As far as I know History of the Crusades is the only DLE with the soft leather..."

The Deluxe Limited Edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream also uses soft leather. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong ... but my recollection is that it is the soft stuff.

>34 boddhidharma:

Thanks for photo, i would have try to fix the ding at the corner. ( with my finger....), or ask for replacement.

Is it smell like a hermes bag or the cushion of a Toyota ?

> 34
Thanks for posting the pictures. Quite an impressive library. For the price you paid for it, I would definitely ask for a replacement for that ding and the slipcase issue. I am pretty sure this has not sold out and they will provide you a return label with prepaid shipping. Plus if you don't have the packaging materials, you can just send the damaged one back in the replacement's box. Good luck!

I received this set the end of last week. I have been reading two chapters a day, and am loving it. Everything about it is great. The size, heft, illustrations, the thick glossy paper. Terrific. The only thing I could see being better is if the endpapers were hand marbled instead of the printed sheets. I thought the non-gilted boards would be to plain, but they aren't, it actually works for this edition. It has been a while since I last read of the four adventurers, and am having a good time on the re-visit, I don't want to read it to fast and have it end.

I am currently reading it for the first time (and 3 other books) and have to admit I'm finding it a chore to get through. The EP version does look beautiful though.

I just got an e-mail from EP advertising this one. Better late than never, say I :-/ (-maybe sales are a bit on the slow side?!!)

Beautiful library Boddhidharma & thanks for posting the pictures!

I am noticing that the front and back cover boards warp on the Three Musketeers DLE if you leave them outside of the slipcase. Anybody else experience this? None of my other books are like this.

>47 HugoDumas:
The first thing I do when I receive a book is to remove the slipcase and put it in the attic, and I've never had an Easton warp (although I've seen some used ones that had). I do have 2 or 3 Folios that have started to warp, however. I can't understand why expensive books can warp, but cheap trade editions never do.

47: I always place ALL my books flat, never "standing up". It's simple physics that causes the warping. Well, in most cases anyway. Never had a problem (with warping).

>48 jroger1: >49 astropi: I suspect this happened because this is the heaviest book set I ever owned out of my 800 in 40 years of collecting. The paper stock appears to be about 40-50 pound gloss. I am reading the book on an inclined lap desk, since it is too heavy to hold. So this one takes extra care and probably should be placed flat on the book shelf. So this book is more prone to the law of physics! Quite a lovely read btw.

>49 astropi: >50 HugoDumas:
I have several DLEs the size of "Musketeers" and larger. Although warping is not a common problem, sagging of the text block is almost assured. I've learned to accept it, though, as a sign that gravity still works. (So, too, I suppose, does the many-books interpretation of quantum mechanics.)

The 1000+ page books are also prone to sagging, which is why Franklin used to include a custom foam support with large books like War and Peace and Gone With the Wind.

>51 jroger1: I support the heavier text blocks with either acid free Daveyboard or balsawood from a hobby store. I used to glue the supporter into the slipcase but now I just put it in loosely and I can do the same for large books (e.g. Indian Tribes) that didn't come with a slipcase.

>52 HugoDumas: Excuse my ignorance, however I've never owned a Franklin Library edition. Would the foam cause any damage/rubbing/scratches to the gilt on the page ends? If not then I really don't understand why Easton Press couldn't include these inserts with the larger books. Seems like it would be very cheap to send with the book.

>54 Eastoner: no it was soft and perfectly fit to go under the bottom gilt. I noticed on some older large books that the bottom gilt center has worn slightly because the book is resting on the shelf and when you move the books around the gilt wears. The foam inserts probably cost 10 cents to make. Brilliant concept which should have been adopted for EP for any book over 400 pages.

Good to know, I might have to look into making some myself. I prefer to have my books standing up on the shelf but I do worry sometimes about sagging.

Warping is usually due to a combination of heat and/or pressure.

Pressure:
If you squeeze a bunch of books together (upright) on a shelf you'll have provided the necessary pressure. If one (or more) of those books are wider/longer than its neighbours, there will be a pressure difference within its boards (the excess width/length receiving less pressure). Left in this state long enough, the boards will relax into a warped shape. Heat can accelerate the effect - like tempering metal.

A little pressure is good, though, as it mitigates (but eliminates) sagging. I usually just flip my thicker books upside down for a while to keep any sagging balanced. Oddly enough, that seems to work.

Heat:
Depending on how much glue was used and/or how the other materials in the boards react to heat, differences in surface tension between layers (of glue, cardboard, cloth, etc...) could create a situation where there is more stress on one side of a board than the other, resulting in net shape change. Moisture can exacerbate the effect.

The moral of the story: Don't cram your books together on your shelves and try to maintain as static an environment (temperature and humidity) as you can.

Also, if I had to guess, I'd say "cheaper" books may appear to exhibit the warping problem less because their bindings are looser to begin with and can better tolerate environmental changes.

Also, also, with regard to the inserts idea - I like the idea but I wonder - could EP be consciously choosing to avoid including inserts because it would be like admitting their books aren't perfect/superior?