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Thread: Missing part in "Joseph Balsamo"?

  1. #1
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    Question Missing part in "Joseph Balsamo"?

    After reading "Memoirs of a Physician", "Joseph Balsamo" and "The Queen's Necklace", I started reading "Ange Pitou", which should be the next book, and discovered there are parts of the story I'm ignorant of.
    I checed several editions in order to find the parts I've missed, but they are all the same.
    In the book itself, the author says things like "the reader of "memoirs of a physician" will remember...", but the things the reader should remember happens after the ending of that book.
    Also, in "The Queen's Necklace", Cagliostro blames Philipe for murdering Gilbert in America. At the end of "Joseph Balsamo", Philipe and Gilbert just set out to America.
    So, the missing part should be somewhere between "Joseph Balsamo" and "The Queen's Necklace.
    If somebody knows where to find the missing part, I would thank him very much (especially if its a free ebook...).
    If not, I would like a summary of the events - what happened between Philipe and Gilbert in the cave in America? How come Gilbert has a son? and so on.
    Thanks for your help!

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    Dumas.. Romances of..

    Hi Chana'
    While doing some research on a set of books by Dumas that belonged to my g.aunt, I found two other books in this set that were copyrighted in the same year as Ange Pitou, which was 1894. Those two other books were Comtesse de Charny and Chevalier DeMaison-Rouge. I don't know if that is any help or not. I have not read these books, but I have 26 Volumes of the Romances of Dumas, but cannot find The Man in the Iron Mask among these books. ?? Sandy48

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    Sandy, In your 26 volume set, The Man in the Iron Mask is probably the last section of The Vicomte of Bragelonne. It is only in modern publishing that the Man in the Iron Mask is really a separate book. In addition I would caution you in your search for Copies of the Man in the Iron Mask, in that Dumas wrote two works bearing this title. One is of course the conclusion of the Vicomte of Bragelonne, but the other is a long essay that is part of Celebrated Crimes. The latter is an analysis of the story of this famous prisoner which speculates as to the true identity. Both are great, but I suspect you want the former. I also suspect that you already possess it.

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    Chana, I am in the middle of Ange Pitou now and am sharing your confusion. It is almost as if I have missed a whole book. The cave? Gilbert's child?The mention of the king's light in the window signifying that he had read Gilbert's book? In addition, the trial of the necklace occurs in 1786. The taking of the bastille occurs in '89. Yet Gilbert has been out of the picture for 15 years? Could some wonderful person clear these up?

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    I HAVE THE ANSWER!!! In the abridged version there are 30 missing chapters!!! And here is a summary of them from another site!:

    I've finished reading the missing
    chapters. They can be found, as you recall, in English
    translations published by J.M. Dent and Little, Brown. The
    chapters are not Dumas' best work. While entertainingly
    written, they are obviously padded to extend the length of
    the serial, and Dumas has to make his main characters
    act in very implausible ways to serve the
    requirements of his plot.

    Dumas spins out the outcome
    of the fateful encounter between Stephen Gilbert and
    Andree for several chapters. First, the Duc the
    Richelieu, solicited by the Baron de Taverny, approaches
    King Louis XV, who unexpectedly tells the Duc never to
    speak to him again. The Duc quickly mends his fences
    with Madam du Barry.

    Andree becomes ill and
    starts fainting in court. The Royal physician, Dr.
    Louis, examines her, and pronounces Andree's illness not
    serious.

    Andree and her brother, Philip learn that Andree is
    pregnant, and they believe (erroneously) that Joseph
    Balsamo has assaulted Andree. Philip goes to see Balsamo
    with murderous intent, but Balsamo convinces Philip of
    his innocence by hypnotizing Andree. From the
    hypnotized Andree, they (and the reader) learn that Andree's
    attacker is Stephen Gilbert.

    Gilbert, who is wild
    with remorse, goes to see Balsamo and accuses Balsamo
    of responsibility through his negligent failure to
    awaken Andree from a trance state. Balsamo gives Gilbert
    300,000 francs, with the notion that this will provide
    the dowry to permit Gilbert to marry Andree. Gilbert
    proposes marriage to Andree, who indignantly refuses.
    Gilbert goes into hiding.

    Months pass, the baby
    (Sebastien) is born. Gilbert kidnaps the baby, believing that
    Andree will mistreat the child, and delivers the child
    to Mistress Pitou in Haramont, leaving funds in
    escrow for the child's support and education.

    By Dumasian coincidence, Gilbert and Philip separately,
    independently, and simultaneously decide to emigrate to America,
    and take passage on the same ship. Gilbert stays
    below, and they don't discover each other's presence
    until the ship stops to take water at the Azores.
    Philip threatens to kill Gilbert, who declines to defend
    himself. Philip then shoots Stephen Gilbert, leaves him
    for dead, and sails away.

    [In "La Comtesse de Charny" we discover that an otherwise unexplained ship
    shadowing Gilbert's ship contained Joseph Balsamo, also
    traveling to America, who rescues Gilbert and nurses him
    back to health].

    hope this helps.

    MYSTERY SOLVED!!!!

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