The Club Dumas
Encyclopedia
The Club Dumas is a 1993 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
. The book is set in a world of antiquarian booksellers echoing his previous work, The Flanders Panel
.
The story follows the adventures of a book dealer, Lucas Corso, who is hired to authenticate a rare manuscript by Alexandre Dumas, père
. Corso's investigation leads him to seek out two copies of a rare book known as De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis (The Book of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows). Corso encounters a host of intriguing characters on his journey of investigation, including devil worshippers, obsessed bibliophiles and an hypnotically enticing femme fatale
. Corso's travels take him to Madrid
(Spain), Sintra
(Portugal), Paris
(France) and Toledo
(Spain).
The book is full of details that range from the working habits of Alexandre Dumas to how one might go about forging a 17th-century text, as well as insight into demonology
, and the nature of social constructionism
.
The reader is introduced to Lucas Corso, a mercenary book-dealer and master manipulator who specializes in acquiring rare and valuable editions for anonymous buyers and other book dealers. Corso visits the narrator, Boris Balkan, to get his opinion on the authenticity of a manuscript he has acquired, apparently a chapter of The Three Musketeers
called The Anjou
Wine.
Corso then meets with the owner of the manuscript, his occasional friend and fellow bibliophile, Flavio La Ponte. La Ponte was given the manuscript by its previous owner, Enrique Taillefer, immediately previous to his suicide. Corso and La Ponte drink in their favorite bar, and mention eccentric book-collector Varo Borja.
In Madrid, Corso visits the beautiful widow of Taillefer, Liana Taillefer, who is intelligent and manipulative. She seems curious about The Anjou Wine and skeptical that Corso's possession of the manuscript is legitimate. Liana shows Corso her late husband's books and the novel he was working on, a trite and poorly-written adventure called The Dead Man's Hand. Before leaving, Corso speculates that she was having an affair prior to her husband's death. On his way out, Corso sees a sinister man with a scar driving a Jaguar.
Corso spends a night alone, fantasizing about his ancestor, who fought on the losing side of the Battle of Waterloo
. He reminisces about an ex-lover, Nikon, who left him long ago due to his emotional unavailability and ultimate selfishness. Corso wonders if it could have been different.
Corso goes to Toledo to visit the very successful Varo Borja, who shows him a very rare book called The Book of the Nine Doors: one of three in existence, it is a book which contains clues and a formula for summoning the devil
. The author, Aristide Torchia
, printed it in 1666 and was subsequently burned at the stake, along with all the copies of the book, by the Inquisition
. Although Borja's book is one of only three remaining copies in existence, Borja nevertheless believes there is only one real copy, with his copy being a very exact forgery
. After showing him his vast collection of occult
books, Borja then gives Corso an odd but very lucrative assignment: find the other two copies of The Book of the Nine Doors, and compare them. All Corso's expenses will be paid, and Corso is to acquire the copy he determines to be the original — no matter what the cost, and by any means necessary.
Corso does a bit of research, and the reader is treated to a history of Dumas' private life, as well as the sinister character Rochefort from The Three Musketeers
, whom Corso compares to the man with the scar. Corso visits Balkan again, this time in a cafe where Balkan is giving a lecture, and they discuss the villains in The Three Musketeers, including Rochefort, Milady, and Richelieu. Corso meets La Ponte again, and in a bit of self-reference, they playfully pretend they are characters in a mystery novel.
Lucas Corso visits the "Ceniza brothers", experts in book restoration and probable world-class book forgers, and they discuss methods of book forgery. Liana Taillefer visits Corso in his hotel room and attempts to seduce him in return for "The Anjou Wine;" however, he sleeps with her and sends her on her way without giving her the manuscript, earning him an enemy (and not merely an opponent) for the rest of the story, an event (sleeping together under false pretenses) that echos D'Artagnan's episode sleeping with Milady in the Three Musketeers.
Corso takes a train to Lisbon
and meets a young woman in her twenties with striking green eyes, who was also at the café listening to Balkan's lecture. A backpacker, she mysteriously identifies herself as "Irene Adler
", the name of an antagonist in the Sherlock Holmes
stories. They part in Lisbon as Corso visits the owner of a second copy of The Book of Nine Doors, Victor Fargas. Fargas is an aged and obsessive book collector who is the last of a prominent Sintra family. Now he lives alone in an empty mansion with no furniture, selling what is left of his famous library of rare antique books to pay for food and property taxes.
Corso compares the two copies of The Book of Nine Doors and notices slight differences in a few of the illustrations. (Pérez-Reverte includes one set of all nine illustrations in the book.) While most plates are signed by the Torchia, on some of the variants the signature of the picture's author is a second name, "L.F." On his way back to the village from Fargas' place, the man with the scar, whom Corso now refers to as "Rochefort", makes an appearance. After a brief appearance of "the girl" (formerly known as Irene Adler), Corso meets a corrupt policeman he knows named Amilcar Pinto in order to arrange a burglary of Fargas' home to acquire the book. That night the girl calls Corso in his hotel with news that Fargas is dead. They visit Fargas' home, find The Book of Nine Doors has been burnt in the fireplace, and also find a drowned Fargas in his own fountain. Corso and the girl then leave for Paris, the location of the third copy of the book.
In Paris Corso meets with Achille Replinger, an antique book seller, who verifies the "The Anjou Wine" manuscript to be genuine and discourses on the history of Dumas' writing habits. The girl and Corso talk, and the girl brings up the devil as Corso thinks about Nikon. As they walk they see La Ponte with Liana Taillefer. Corso returns to his hotel and meets with a concierge he knows, Gruber, asking him to find the hotel where Liana is staying. That night the girl visits Corso in his room and they talk about Lucifer and the war of heaven — at one point she implies she is actually a witness to the events of the fall, potentially a fallen angel herself.
The next day Corso visits Baron
ess Frida Ungern, a widow who controls the Ungern Foundation, which in turn owns the largest library on the occult in Europe, including the last copy of The Book of Nine Doors. Baroness Ungern and Corso share a flirtation as they discuss the books on the occult she has written as well as the personal history of Torchia. The girl calls Corso while he is in the library and alerts him to the presence of Rochefort outside. Baroness Ungern translates the captions of all the illustrations in The Book of Nine Doors for Corso and the reader, and Corso notes the differences in this third set of plates. Later Corso drinks in a restaurant and analyses the difference in the three sets of illustrations, discovering only the mismatched plates are the ones signed "L.F." On the way back to his hotel he is assaulted by Rochefort, who is successfully repelled by the girl. Corso takes the girl back to the hotel and they spend the night together.
By morning Gruber has located Liana Taillefer and his friend La Ponte, and Corso goes to their hotel and assaults La Ponte just before Rochefort shows up and knocks Corso unconscious. Corso awakes to find Borja's copy of the book missing along with The Anjou Wine, and La Ponte realizing he has been used by Liana Taillefer for that manuscript. Soon afterwards, they find Baroness Ungern has been killed in a fire at her library.
By assuming Liana is playing out her part as Milady and Rochefort as her henchman, Corso deduces Liana has escaped to Meung
, the setting for The Three Musketeers. Corso, La Ponte, and the girl confront Liana, who confirms she is indeed emulating Milady, immediately before Rochefort shows up and holds them at gunpoint. The thus-far unseen Richelieu-equivalent summons Rochefort via phone, and Corso is taken to the castle where The Three Musketeers was set.
Richelieu's identity is revealed, and he describes the motives of Liana, Rochefort, and Liana's late husband Enrique. He then introduces Corso to The Club Dumas of the title, a literary social group for very wealthy Dumas enthusiasts, who are all at the castle for an annual banquet. However, much to Corso's chagrin, Richelieu seems confused when confronted with the plot surrounding The Book of Nine Doors--the two plots are actually completely unrelated. Although invited to stay, Corso leaves the party confused.
Corso, the girl, and La Ponte drive back to Spain, where Corso knows he must confront Borja. On a hilltop overlooking Borja's mansion, the girl reveals to Corso her true identity, as a fallen angel who rebelled against God and has wandered the Earth ever since. Corso accepts this and his growing attachment to her.
Corso arrives at Borja's home, realizing that his employer is the perpetrator behind the murders and arsons. Borja has apparently gone completely insane, having dismantled a great deal of his occult book collection in the name of "research", and so that none might follow after him, in an effort to summon the devil and "gain knowledge." Borja explains his methodology and the symbolism in the ritual before he executes it. The ritual goes awry, as one of the prints needed to properly complete it is a forgery of the Ceniza Brothers. Borja appears to meet with an unhappy ending, each protagonist - Corso and Borja - getting the devil they deserve.
of Colonna (1499).
Other works mentioned are:
in Venice:
Other occultist writings:
Non-fiction books written by Baroness Ungern:
Other fictional works mentioned are:
's film The Ninth Gate
(1999) was adapted from Pérez-Reverte's novel. While following the same basic plotline for the first two-thirds of the film, the finale is significantly altered in the movie. Several characters' roles diminish, expand, merge, swap or disappear completely, and one of the novel's most important subplots - the Dumas connection - is removed entirely.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for twenty-one years . His first novel, El húsar, set in the Napoleonic Wars, was released in 1986. He is well known outside Spain for his "Alatriste" series of novels...
. The book is set in a world of antiquarian booksellers echoing his previous work, The Flanders Panel
The Flanders Panel
The Flanders Panel is a novel written by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte in 1990, telling of a mystery hidden in an art masterpiece spanning from the 15th century to the present day.-Plot summary:...
.
The story follows the adventures of a book dealer, Lucas Corso, who is hired to authenticate a rare manuscript by Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
. Corso's investigation leads him to seek out two copies of a rare book known as De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis (The Book of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows). Corso encounters a host of intriguing characters on his journey of investigation, including devil worshippers, obsessed bibliophiles and an hypnotically enticing femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
. Corso's travels take him to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(Spain), Sintra
Sintra
Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...
(Portugal), Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(France) and Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
(Spain).
The book is full of details that range from the working habits of Alexandre Dumas to how one might go about forging a 17th-century text, as well as insight into demonology
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
, and the nature of social constructionism
Social constructionism
Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...
.
Plot summary
A man commits suicide in a mysterious opening, which is presented without any context. This man is later revealed to be Enrique Taillefer, a publisher of cookbooks and a Dumas enthusiast.The reader is introduced to Lucas Corso, a mercenary book-dealer and master manipulator who specializes in acquiring rare and valuable editions for anonymous buyers and other book dealers. Corso visits the narrator, Boris Balkan, to get his opinion on the authenticity of a manuscript he has acquired, apparently a chapter of The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
called The Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
Wine.
Corso then meets with the owner of the manuscript, his occasional friend and fellow bibliophile, Flavio La Ponte. La Ponte was given the manuscript by its previous owner, Enrique Taillefer, immediately previous to his suicide. Corso and La Ponte drink in their favorite bar, and mention eccentric book-collector Varo Borja.
In Madrid, Corso visits the beautiful widow of Taillefer, Liana Taillefer, who is intelligent and manipulative. She seems curious about The Anjou Wine and skeptical that Corso's possession of the manuscript is legitimate. Liana shows Corso her late husband's books and the novel he was working on, a trite and poorly-written adventure called The Dead Man's Hand. Before leaving, Corso speculates that she was having an affair prior to her husband's death. On his way out, Corso sees a sinister man with a scar driving a Jaguar.
Corso spends a night alone, fantasizing about his ancestor, who fought on the losing side of the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. He reminisces about an ex-lover, Nikon, who left him long ago due to his emotional unavailability and ultimate selfishness. Corso wonders if it could have been different.
Corso goes to Toledo to visit the very successful Varo Borja, who shows him a very rare book called The Book of the Nine Doors: one of three in existence, it is a book which contains clues and a formula for summoning the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. The author, Aristide Torchia
Aristide Torchia
Aristide Torchia is a fictional character from The Club Dumas, a 1993 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The events of the novel take place hundreds of years after Torchia's death, and he is referenced only as a historical figure. He is also mentioned in the film The Ninth Gate, which is based on the...
, printed it in 1666 and was subsequently burned at the stake, along with all the copies of the book, by the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
. Although Borja's book is one of only three remaining copies in existence, Borja nevertheless believes there is only one real copy, with his copy being a very exact forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
. After showing him his vast collection of occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
books, Borja then gives Corso an odd but very lucrative assignment: find the other two copies of The Book of the Nine Doors, and compare them. All Corso's expenses will be paid, and Corso is to acquire the copy he determines to be the original — no matter what the cost, and by any means necessary.
Corso does a bit of research, and the reader is treated to a history of Dumas' private life, as well as the sinister character Rochefort from The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
, whom Corso compares to the man with the scar. Corso visits Balkan again, this time in a cafe where Balkan is giving a lecture, and they discuss the villains in The Three Musketeers, including Rochefort, Milady, and Richelieu. Corso meets La Ponte again, and in a bit of self-reference, they playfully pretend they are characters in a mystery novel.
Lucas Corso visits the "Ceniza brothers", experts in book restoration and probable world-class book forgers, and they discuss methods of book forgery. Liana Taillefer visits Corso in his hotel room and attempts to seduce him in return for "The Anjou Wine;" however, he sleeps with her and sends her on her way without giving her the manuscript, earning him an enemy (and not merely an opponent) for the rest of the story, an event (sleeping together under false pretenses) that echos D'Artagnan's episode sleeping with Milady in the Three Musketeers.
Corso takes a train to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and meets a young woman in her twenties with striking green eyes, who was also at the café listening to Balkan's lecture. A backpacker, she mysteriously identifies herself as "Irene Adler
Irene Adler
Irene Adler is a fictional character featured in the Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in July 1891...
", the name of an antagonist in the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories. They part in Lisbon as Corso visits the owner of a second copy of The Book of Nine Doors, Victor Fargas. Fargas is an aged and obsessive book collector who is the last of a prominent Sintra family. Now he lives alone in an empty mansion with no furniture, selling what is left of his famous library of rare antique books to pay for food and property taxes.
Corso compares the two copies of The Book of Nine Doors and notices slight differences in a few of the illustrations. (Pérez-Reverte includes one set of all nine illustrations in the book.) While most plates are signed by the Torchia, on some of the variants the signature of the picture's author is a second name, "L.F." On his way back to the village from Fargas' place, the man with the scar, whom Corso now refers to as "Rochefort", makes an appearance. After a brief appearance of "the girl" (formerly known as Irene Adler), Corso meets a corrupt policeman he knows named Amilcar Pinto in order to arrange a burglary of Fargas' home to acquire the book. That night the girl calls Corso in his hotel with news that Fargas is dead. They visit Fargas' home, find The Book of Nine Doors has been burnt in the fireplace, and also find a drowned Fargas in his own fountain. Corso and the girl then leave for Paris, the location of the third copy of the book.
In Paris Corso meets with Achille Replinger, an antique book seller, who verifies the "The Anjou Wine" manuscript to be genuine and discourses on the history of Dumas' writing habits. The girl and Corso talk, and the girl brings up the devil as Corso thinks about Nikon. As they walk they see La Ponte with Liana Taillefer. Corso returns to his hotel and meets with a concierge he knows, Gruber, asking him to find the hotel where Liana is staying. That night the girl visits Corso in his room and they talk about Lucifer and the war of heaven — at one point she implies she is actually a witness to the events of the fall, potentially a fallen angel herself.
The next day Corso visits Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
ess Frida Ungern, a widow who controls the Ungern Foundation, which in turn owns the largest library on the occult in Europe, including the last copy of The Book of Nine Doors. Baroness Ungern and Corso share a flirtation as they discuss the books on the occult she has written as well as the personal history of Torchia. The girl calls Corso while he is in the library and alerts him to the presence of Rochefort outside. Baroness Ungern translates the captions of all the illustrations in The Book of Nine Doors for Corso and the reader, and Corso notes the differences in this third set of plates. Later Corso drinks in a restaurant and analyses the difference in the three sets of illustrations, discovering only the mismatched plates are the ones signed "L.F." On the way back to his hotel he is assaulted by Rochefort, who is successfully repelled by the girl. Corso takes the girl back to the hotel and they spend the night together.
By morning Gruber has located Liana Taillefer and his friend La Ponte, and Corso goes to their hotel and assaults La Ponte just before Rochefort shows up and knocks Corso unconscious. Corso awakes to find Borja's copy of the book missing along with The Anjou Wine, and La Ponte realizing he has been used by Liana Taillefer for that manuscript. Soon afterwards, they find Baroness Ungern has been killed in a fire at her library.
By assuming Liana is playing out her part as Milady and Rochefort as her henchman, Corso deduces Liana has escaped to Meung
Meung-sur-Loire
Meung-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.It was the site of the Battle of Meung-sur-Loire in 1429. In fiction, it has been referenced by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers as the village where d'Artagnan, en route to join the King's Musketeers in Paris,...
, the setting for The Three Musketeers. Corso, La Ponte, and the girl confront Liana, who confirms she is indeed emulating Milady, immediately before Rochefort shows up and holds them at gunpoint. The thus-far unseen Richelieu-equivalent summons Rochefort via phone, and Corso is taken to the castle where The Three Musketeers was set.
Richelieu's identity is revealed, and he describes the motives of Liana, Rochefort, and Liana's late husband Enrique. He then introduces Corso to The Club Dumas of the title, a literary social group for very wealthy Dumas enthusiasts, who are all at the castle for an annual banquet. However, much to Corso's chagrin, Richelieu seems confused when confronted with the plot surrounding The Book of Nine Doors--the two plots are actually completely unrelated. Although invited to stay, Corso leaves the party confused.
Corso, the girl, and La Ponte drive back to Spain, where Corso knows he must confront Borja. On a hilltop overlooking Borja's mansion, the girl reveals to Corso her true identity, as a fallen angel who rebelled against God and has wandered the Earth ever since. Corso accepts this and his growing attachment to her.
Corso arrives at Borja's home, realizing that his employer is the perpetrator behind the murders and arsons. Borja has apparently gone completely insane, having dismantled a great deal of his occult book collection in the name of "research", and so that none might follow after him, in an effort to summon the devil and "gain knowledge." Borja explains his methodology and the symbolism in the ritual before he executes it. The ritual goes awry, as one of the prints needed to properly complete it is a forgery of the Ceniza Brothers. Borja appears to meet with an unhappy ending, each protagonist - Corso and Borja - getting the devil they deserve.
Literary references
The Club Dumas is a bibliophile's fantasy. Almost every page includes a literary reference, or a description of a rare edition of a famous work. Lucas Corso also comes across a number of books on the occult, most of which are inventions by Pérez-Reverte. The fictional works, The Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows and Delomalanicon have histories intertwined with many real authors and other historical figures. While itself fictional, many aspects of The Nine Doors appear to be heavily inspired by the Hypnerotomachia PoliphiliHypnerotomachia Poliphili
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili , called in English Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream, is a romance said to be by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing...
of Colonna (1499).
Real books
- The works of Alexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, from whom the book derives its title, influence nearly every element of the plot. The books mentioned are:- The Three MusketeersThe Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
. Edition by Miguel Guijarro in four volumes, with engravings by Ortega. - The Countess de Charny. Edition by Vicente Blasco Ibanez, in eight volumes, part of the "Illustrated Novel" collection.
- The Two DianasThe Two DianasThe Two Dianas is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It tells the fictionalized story of Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, who mortally wounded king Henry II of France. The two Dianas in the title refer to Henry II's favorite, Diana de Poitiers, and her daughter, Diana de Castro. The novel also...
. Edition in three volumes. - The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
. Edition by Juan Ros in four volumes, with engravings by A. Gil. - The Forty-Five.
- The Queen's Necklace.
- The Companions of Jehu.
- From Madrid to Cadiz.
- Queen Margot.
- Le Chevalier de Maison-RougeLe Chevalier de Maison-RougeLe Chevalier de Maison-Rouge was written in 1845 by Alexandre Dumas, père as part of a series referred to as the Marie Antoinette romances...
. Apparently originally titled The Knight of Rougeville.
- The Three Musketeers
- Also mentioned are works by Dumas' ghostwriter Auguste MaquetAuguste MaquetAuguste Maquet was a French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père, co-writing such works as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers....
, especially Le Bonhomme Buvat or the Conspiracy of CellamareCellamare ConspiracyThe Cellamare Conspiracy of 1718 was a conspiracy against the then Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans . "Created" in Spain, it was the brainchild of Antonio del Giudice, Prince of Cellamare.-Background and Plot:...
, and Le SiècleLe SiècleLe Siècle was a newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France.In 1836, Le Siècle was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end in 1848, the paper soon changed its editorial stance to one of republicanism. Le Siècle...
, the magazine in which The Three MusketeersThe Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
originally appeared between March and July 1844.
Other works mentioned are:
- Richard Adams, Watership DownWatership DownWatership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel, written by English author Richard Adams, about a small group of rabbits. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...
. - Georg AgricolaGeorg AgricolaGeorgius Agricola was a German scholar and scientist. Known as "the father of mineralogy", he was born at Glauchau in Saxony. His real name was Georg Pawer; Agricola is the Latinised version of his name, Pawer meaning "farmer"...
, De re metallica Latin edition by Froben and Episcopius, Basle, 1556. - Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, The Divine ComedyThe Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
. - the works of John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
. A hypothetical find that would make Corso and La Ponte very wealthy. - the works of AzorínJosé Martínez RuizJosé Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruíz, also known as Azorín , was a Spanish writer and literary critic.-Early life and education:Martínez Ruiz was born in Monovar, Alicante in 1873...
. - Berengario de Carpi, Tractatus.
- Luís de CamõesLuís de CamõesLuís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...
, Os LusíadasOs LusíadasOs Lusíadas , usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões ....
. First edition in four volumes, Ibarra 1789. - Jacques CazotteJacques CazotteJacques Cazotte was a French author.Born at Dijon, he was educated by the Jesuits. Cazotte then worked for the French Ministry ofthe Marine and at the age of 27 he obtained a public office at Martinique....
, The Devil in Love. - Miguel de CervantesMiguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, an edition "signed by Trautz-Bauzonnet" or "Hardy". - Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Complutensian Polyglot BibleComplutensian Polyglot BibleThe Complutensian Polyglot Bible is the name given to the first printed polyglot of the entire Bible, initiated and financed by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros . It includes the first printed editions of the Greek New Testament, the complete Septuagint, and the Targum Onkelos...
. Six-volume edition. - Simone de Colines, Praxis criminis persequendi, 1541.
- Jacques Collin de PlancyCollin de PlancyJacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy was a French occultist, demonologist and writer; he published several works on occultism and demonology. He was born in 1793 or 1794 in Plancy and died in 1881 in Paris. He was a free-thinker influenced by Voltaire...
, Dictionnaire InfernalDictionnaire InfernalThe Dictionnaire Infernal is a book on demonology, organised in hellish hierarchies. It was written by Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy and first published in 1818. There were several editions of the book, but perhaps the most famous is the edition of 1863, in which sixty-nine illustrations...
, 1842. - Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories including A Study in ScarletA Study in ScarletA Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...
and A Scandal in BohemiaA Scandal in Bohemia"A Scandal in Bohemia" was the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories to be published in The Strand Magazine and the first Sherlock Holmes story illustrated by Sidney Paget....
. - Nicolaus CopernicusNicolaus CopernicusNicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
, De revolutionis celestium. Second edition, Basle 1566. - Corpus Hermeticum. Cited as mentioning the Delomelanicon.
- Gatien de Courtilz de SandrasGatien de Courtilz de SandrasGatien de Courtilz de Sandras was a French novelist, journalist, pamphleteer and memorialist.His abundant output includes short stories, gallant letters, tales of historical love affairs , historical and political works, biographies and semi-fictional "memoirs" Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1644,...
, Mémoires de M. d'Artagnan. - Martin DelrioMartin DelrioMartín Antonio Del Rio or Martin Antoine Del Rio was a Jesuit theologian of Spanish descent. He wrote, among other books, Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex, a work on magic and the occult...
, Disquisitionum Magicarum, 1599/1600. A three-volume work on demonic magic. - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, The Pickwick PapersThe Pickwick PapersThe Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...
. Spanish edition translated by Benito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
. - Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor DostoevskyFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, The Brothers KaramazovThe Brothers KaramazovThe Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
. - Albrecht DürerAlbrecht DürerAlbrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, De Symmetria, Paris/Nuremberg 1557, in Latin. - any version of FaustFaustFaust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
- Francesco Maria GuazzoFrancesco Maria GuazzoFrancesco Maria Guazzo, aka Guaccio, aka Guaccius was an Italian priest in Milan. He wrote a book, the Compendium Maleficarum , in which he cited numerous experts on the subject, among them Nicholas Remy....
, Compendium Maleficarum. - Patricia HighsmithPatricia HighsmithPatricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
, Carol. - Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
. - Pope Innocent VIIIPope Innocent VIIIPope Innocent VIII , born Giovanni Battista Cybo , was Pope from 1484 until his death.-Early years:Giovanni Battista Cybo was born at Genoa of Greek extraction...
, Summis desiderantes affectibus. - Athanasius KircherAthanasius KircherAthanasius Kircher was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology, and medicine...
, Oedipus AegyptiacusOedipus AegyptiacusOedipus Aegyptiacus is Athanasius Kircher's supreme work of Egyptology.The three full folio tomes of ornate illustrations and diagrams were published in Rome over the period 1652–54...
. Rome, 1652. - Heinrich KramerHeinrich KramerHeinrich Kramer also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institoris, was a German churchman and inquisitor....
, Malleus MaleficarumMalleus MaleficarumThe Malleus Maleficarum is an infamous treatise on witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and was first published in Germany in 1487...
. 1519 Lyon edition. - Pierre de La Porte, Memoirs. Written by "a man in the confidence of Anne of Austria".
- Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, Moby-DickMoby-DickMoby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
. The book forms the initial basis of the friendship between Lucas Corso and Flavio La Ponte. - Prosper MériméeProsper MériméeProsper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, Corsican Revenge. - John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, Paradise LostParadise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
. - Margaret MitchellMargaret MitchellMargaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, Gone with the WindGone with the WindThe slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
. - Marco PoloMarco PoloMarco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
, The Book of Wonders. - Pierre Alexis Ponson du TerrailPierre Alexis Ponson du TerrailPierre Alexis, Viscount of Ponson du Terrail was a French writer. He was a prolific novelist, producing in the space of twenty years some seventy-three volumes, and is best remembered today for his creation of the fictional character of Rocambole.-Biography:He was born in Montmaur .Ponson du...
, RocamboleRocambole (character)Rocambole is the creation of Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail, a 19th-century French writer. Rocambole is a fictional adventurer. His importance to the genres of adventure novels and crime fiction cannot be overestimated, as he represents the transition from the old-fashioned Gothic novel to modern...
. In forty volumes. - Nicholas RemyNicholas RemyNicholas Remy was a French magistrate who became famous as a hunter of witches comparable to Jean Bodin and De Lancre. After studying law at the University of Toulouse, Remy practiced in Paris from 1563 to 1570...
, Daemonolatreiae libri tresDaemonolatreiae libri tresDaemonolatreiae libri tres is a 1595 work by Nicholas Remy. It was edited by Montague Summers and translated as Demonolatry in 1929.Along with the Malleus Maleficarum, it is generally considered one of the most important early works on demons and witches...
. - Lucas de Rene, The Knight with the Yellow Doublet
- Roederer, Political and Romantic Intrigue from the Court of France.
- Fernando de RojasFernando de RojasFernando de Rojas was a Spanish author about whom little information is known. He possibly attended the University of Salamanca. Although his family was of Jewish ancestry, they were conversos, or Jews who had converted to Christianity under pressure from the Spanish crown...
, La CelestinaLa CelestinaLa Celestina , actually called Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea or Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, in English Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea), is a work composed entirely in dialogue published by Fernando de Rojas in 1499...
. - Rafael SabatiniRafael SabatiniRafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
, Captain BloodCaptain Blood (novel)Captain Blood: His Odyssey is an adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1922.- Synopsis :The protagonist is the sharp-witted Dr...
. - Rafael SabatiniRafael SabatiniRafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
, Scaramouche. - Hartmann SchedelHartmann SchedelHartmann Schedel was a German physician, humanist, historian, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born in Nuremberg...
, Nuremberg ChronicleNuremberg Chronicleright|thumbnail|240px|Fifth dayThe Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated Biblical paraphrase and world history that follows the story of human history related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in...
. - Ludovico Maria SinistrariLudovico Maria SinistrariLudovico Maria Sinistrari was an Italian Franciscan priest and author.-Biography:Born in Ameno, Italy, he studied in Pavia and entered the Franciscan Order in 1647...
, De Daemonialitate et Incubis et Succubis. 1680 manuscript, London 1875 printed edition. - StendhalStendhalMarie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
, The Charterhouse of ParmaThe Charterhouse of ParmaThe Charterhouse of Parma is a novel published in 1839 by Stendhal.-Plot summary:The Charterhouse of Parma tells the story of the young Italian nobleman Fabrice del Dongo and his adventures from his birth in 1798 to his death...
. Supposedly translated by the narrator. - Eugène SueEugène SueJoseph Marie Eugène Sue was a French novelist.He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino...
, The Mysteries of Paris. - Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, War and PeaceWar and PeaceWar and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
. - Jacobus de VoragineJacobus de VoragineBlessed Jacobus de Varagine or Voragine was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of Legenda Aurea, the Golden Legend, a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medieval church that was one of the most popular...
, Golden LegendGolden LegendThe Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived, compared to twenty or so of its nearest rivals...
Edition by Nicolas Kesler, Basle 1493. - Vulgata Clementina.
- Michel ZevacoMichel ZevacoMichel Zevaco was a French journalist, novelist, publisher, film director, and anti-clerical as well as anarchist activist....
, The Pardellanes. - Leonardo FioravantiLeonardo FioravantiLeonardo Fioravanti is an Italian automobile designer and CEO of Fioravanti Srl.He studied mechanical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, specializing in aerodynamics and car body design...
, Compendio dei secreti, 1571.
Fictional books
Occultist works published by Aristide TorchiaAristide Torchia
Aristide Torchia is a fictional character from The Club Dumas, a 1993 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The events of the novel take place hundreds of years after Torchia's death, and he is referenced only as a historical figure. He is also mentioned in the film The Ninth Gate, which is based on the...
in Venice:
- The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows. Venice, 1666. The book Corso is looking for, which contains reprints of illustrations from the Delomelanicon.
- Key to Captive Thoughts, 1653.
- A Curious Explanation of Mysteries and Hieroglyphs.
- The Three Books of the Art, 1658.
- Nicholas Tamisso, The Secrets of Wisdom, 1650.
- Bernard TrevisanBernard TrevisanBernard Trevisan refers to one or more Italian alchemists. These are often confused, or more accurately the name may refer to a shadowy figure or figures.-Biography:...
, The Lost Word, 1661. A fictional edition of an actual 14th century alchemy treatise.
Other occultist writings:
- Asclemandres. A book mentioning the existence of the Delomalanicon
- Delomelanicon, or Invocation of Darkness. A long-destroyed book containing a formula for summoning the devil, written by Lucifer himself.
- De origine, moribus et rebus gestis Satanae.
- Dissertazioni sopra le apparizioni de' spiriti e diavoli.
- Restructor omnium rerum.
Non-fiction books written by Baroness Ungern:
- Isis, the Naked Virgin.
- The Devil, History and Legend.
Other fictional works mentioned are:
- Books by Boris Balkan:
- Lupin, Raffles, Rocambole, and Holmes.
- Dumas: the Shadow of a Giant.
- Mateu, Universal Bibliography. A 1929 rare books guide used by Corso and his rivals.
- Julio Ollero, Dictionary of Rare and Improbable Books.
- Books by Enrique Taillefer:
- The Thousand Best Desserts of La Mancha. A cooking book.
- The Secrets of Barbecue. A cooking book.
- The Dead Man's Hand, or Anne of Austria's Page.. Taillefer's unpublished novel, cribbed largely from Angeline de Gravaillac.
- Amaury de Verona, Angeline de Gravaillac, or Unsullied Virtue, published in the 19th century in The Popular Illustrated Novel.
- Books by an unnamed Nobel prizeNobel Prize in LiteratureSince 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
winning author:- I, Onan
- In Search of Myself
- Oui, C'est Moi.
Film adaptation
Roman PolanskiRoman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's film The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult mystery thriller involving the rare book business, wherein rare-book dealer Dean Corso is hired by bibliophile Boris Balkan to validate a seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates...
(1999) was adapted from Pérez-Reverte's novel. While following the same basic plotline for the first two-thirds of the film, the finale is significantly altered in the movie. Several characters' roles diminish, expand, merge, swap or disappear completely, and one of the novel's most important subplots - the Dumas connection - is removed entirely.
Awards
- In 1998, The Club Dumas was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Novel, the Macavity Award for Best Novel, and the World Fantasy Award for Best NovelWorld Fantasy Award for Best NovelThis World Fantasy Award is given to the fantasy novel or novels voted best by a panel of judges, and presented each year at the World Fantasy Convention.-1975:...
.