[FINE BINDINGS] (COURTILZ, DE SANDRAS, GATIEN DE) memoires de mr. d'artagnan, capitaine-lieutenant... Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1700. In three volumes. 12mo, 158 x 89 mm; 156 x 88 mm; 155 x 90 mm. (1)-440; (1)-497; (1)-498 pp. Title-pages in red and black, with an armillary sphere device. Late 18th century Russian Imperial full gilt penelled red morocco; gilt armorial crest in at center of each cover; gilt spine compartments; olive morocco spine labels; raised bands; all edges gilt; inner dentelles gilt; marbled endpapers. Lightly worn, two small worm holes near the front joints of the second and third volume; scattered light foxing to text. Ex-library with book-plates of Pavlovsk Palace Library and the Library of Virginia House, Richmon on front paste-downs and call numbers in pencil on verso of front free endpaper and title-pages. The gilt arms on each cover are likely those of the "Arms of Alliance," with the state arms of Russia at center, the arms of Schleswig-Holstein at left and those of Württemberg at right. These are the joint arms of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maris Feodorovna as heirs presumptive, ca. 1778-1789. This text served as a model for Alexandre Dumas pere's Three Musketeers. Imagine the future czar and czarina indulging their nostalgia for the ancien régime on the eve of the Napoleonic wars. PROVENANCE: The Collection of Ambassador and Mrs. Alexander Weddell, Richmond, Virginia. Deaccessioned by The Virginia House Museum to benefit future preservation, acquisitions, and care of collections.