A single bottle of wine for the Musketeers, or As we have been deceived by Dumas
24 July, 1802, there appeared Alexander Dumas the father, the author of the famous musketeer trilogy. In his birthday I want to tell you a little secret...
The wine heroes of Dumas and drink often. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that the man we were podbiral in his works. For example, here in this fragment of the novel "the Three Musketeers"...
— Not I, ' replied Athos. — I love Spanish wine Aramis that I told to load in the van of our servants bottles of sixty, and this greatly facilitated my purse.
What is wrong with this fragment?
Most of you correctly assessed and identified the place of deception. The novel "the Three Musketeers" takes place in the years 1627-1628. It was in these years took place the siege of La Rochelle, commanded by cardinal Richelieu.
However, the real history of the English Kenelm Digby will produce the first powerful, sturdy and resistant to the transport of the bottle only in 1652. But even then it will be a single party, and even the technology will not be patented. Really large wine bottle Dating no earlier 1690-1700 years. But even then, innovative packaging will be produced strictly under the order of Inns, hotels and restaurants and will serve exclusively for the storage for wines purchased at harvest time and the barrel spilled "in containers".
Modern collection "glass seals" 1700-1720 years is one of the most rare and unusual collections.
During our novel bottle — it's rare, slightly smaller than the diamond on the finger of d'artagnan from the first book. A dozen bottles is about as good a racehorse. That is, without taking account of wine Athos had to pay "sixty bottles of" the price of five good horses.
We definitely love the Comte de La fere, but remember that he had a soul seldom found the amount is large, than to "eat and drink". Moreover, the conversation happens after the Atos lost in the bones of every last penny and played 100 pistoles, only to gamble his servant, Grimaud! So 60 bottles it could not go in principle.