The Three Musketeers translation?

Does anyone know what translation was used for this book? I'm rather looking for a Richard Pevear translation.

Folio 60 states, somewhat cryptically, that it is "after a translation by William Barrow." I take that to mean it IS Barrow's translation with a some editorial amendments. Let's hope so because writing about Pevear's 2006 translation (appearing 5 years after the Folio's edition), Wikipedia had this to say:

"One of these translations which appeared before 1846, by William Barrow, is still in print and fairly faithful to the original, available in the Oxford World's Classics 1999 edition. However, all of the explicit and many of the implicit references to sexuality had been removed to conform to 19th-century English standards, thereby making the scenes between d'Artagnan and Milady, for example, confusing and strange."

My doughty LEC edition from the 1950s uses the William Robson translation from 1895, about which Literary Transgressions has this to say (after trashing the readability of the Barrow translation):

"Mr. Robson, agreeably, was far less literal than Mr. Barrow and his text was thus greatly improved. His Three Musketeers managed to be both readable and enjoyable while maintaining a very close translation from the original Dumas. He carefully translated the work nearly-literally but wisely updated the grammar to be appropriate and understandable for English readers. Basically, the Robson translation made instant sense whereas each sentence in the Barrow translation took a few minutes to decipher. Additionally, Mr. Robson had a good flair for the adventuresome so his story zipped along with excitement while Mr. Barrow’s trudged with the weariness of having to translate so long a story."

(This reviewer concludes that the Pevear translation is the winner--combining readability with faithfulness. Now I need to reread Robson to see if he also "cleaned up" Dumas.)

Thanks very much for the response!

This is a problem with both Folio and Easton Press. Beautiful books - but often inferior or antiquated translations. Stll, both companies are getting better. For instance, the LE Virgil utilises a good modern translation and Easton's Magic Mountain has replaced dated Helen Porter-Lowe with the modern John Woods.

Folio's Metamorphoses, Montaigne and Plutarch are lost opportunities, though. They employ antiquated and, in the case of Plutarch and Montaigne, beautiful translations, which are difficult to read and follow.

I've seen the Wikipedia entry on the matter; however, I first read The Three Musketeers in Barrow's translation and loved it. I concur that the d'Artagnan/Milady scenes are a bit cryptic in places, but I didn't find it hard to read. In contrast, I gave my poor hubby the Pevear translation, given that it is so much "better". He found it, for want of a better description, "wordy", and thus quite difficult to read.

I guess this is me being most unhelpful and reiterating what has annoyed me many a time when people have said it: choose a translation you like - don't always assume that what others decree is right. The bowdlerisation is mighty vexing but don't let it put you off buying the Folio edition completely.

My copy of The Three Musketeers is the 1940 Garden City Publishing Co. edition illustrated by Mead Schaeffer. The illustrations are all (c) 1929 by Dodd, Mead & Co., so I suspect they are reprinted from an earlier edition. No mention whatsoever of the translator.

This book was given to me by my aunt 30+ years ago and I read it multiple times in my teens and loved it. If I was confused by what when on between Milady and D'Artagnan it would have gone right along with my own teen confusion about how to court/woo the ladies. I don't think I've read another translation but should do based on how much I love the book. I've read the Heritage press 20 Years After from 1958. Not sure if that one also suffers from a quaint translation. I didn't see a mention of the translator in that book either.

I read the Pevear a couple of years back. I give it high marks for clarity. I do not recall the translator of the paperback I read as a young teenager, but I remember the language as more romantic and stylized. I found I missed that as I read the Pevear.