# Author's Preface explained — The Three Musketeers

> Chapter companion for The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.

## What happens

The author describes discovering the Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan in the Royal Library while researching his History of Louis XIV, and later finding a manuscript titled Memoirs of the Comte de la Fère that contains the names Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. He obtains permission to publish this manuscript as the basis for the story.

## Character check-ins

### D'Artagnan

Mentioned as the author of the Memoirs that the narrator discovers.

### Athos

Name found in the manuscript Memoirs of the Comte de la Fère.

### Porthos

Name found in the manuscript Memoirs of the Comte de la Fère.

### Aramis

Name found in the manuscript Memoirs of the Comte de la Fère.

### M. de Tréville

Mentioned as the captain of the king's Musketeers whom d'Artagnan visits.

## Key lines

> A short time ago, while making researches in the Royal Library for my History of Louis XIV, I stumbled by chance upon the Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan

Recently, while researching for my book on Louis XIV, I accidentally found d'Artagnan's memoirs in the Royal Library.

_The narrator explains the origin of the story._

> We must confess these three strange names struck us; and it immediately occurred to us that they were but pseudonyms

The unusual names Athos, Porthos, and Aramis seemed like aliases to the narrator.

_The narrator speculates that the names are pseudonyms._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_three_musketeers_se/chapters/author-s-preface
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_three_musketeers_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_three_musketeers_se/chapters