{{short description|1899 novel by Baroness Orczy}} {{Hatnote|This article is about the novel. For the film adaptations, see The Emperor's Candlesticks (1936 film) and The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937 film).}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = The Emperor's Candlesticks | title_orig = | translator = | image = Emperorscandlesticks1899.jpg | image_size = | caption = First edition | author = Baroness Orczy | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = Adventure, Historical novel | publisher = C. Arthur Pearson | release_date = 1899 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (Hardback) | pages = }} '''''The Emperor's Candlesticks''''' is an 1899 historical novel by Baroness Orczy. Written soon after the birth of her son John, it was her first book as an author<ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863590-british-mysteries-boxed-set GoodReads website, ''British Mysteries Boxed Set: Emmuska Orczy'']</ref> rather than translator and was a commercial failure.<ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/baroness-orczy Encyclopedia.com website, ''Baroness Orczy'']</ref> As in the Scarlet Pimpernel, the theme is international intrigue, but this time the setting is pre-World War I Europe and Russia rather than Revolutionary France.
Baroness Orczy first submitted "The Emperor's Candlesticks" for publication in a magazine, but it was rejected as "too long for a short story and too short for a novel".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dirda |first=M. |date=2015 |title=The mystery behind the Baroness |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=109210977&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=New Criterion |pages=31–35 |via=EBSCOHost |volume=34 |issue=1}}</ref>
==Plot introduction== When a group of Russian anarchists kidnap a Russian prince in Vienna there are repercussions. On learning that the Cardinal d'Orsay has agreed to convey some hollow candlesticks from the Emperor to the Princess Marionoff in St Petersburg, two spies both see the possibility of using them to convey messages safely into Russia.<ref>[https://www.readthewritebook.com.au/shop/vintage-collectable/the-emperors-candlesticks-baroness-orczy Read the Write Book website, ''The Emperor's Candlesticks - Baroness Orczy'']</ref>
One is an eager young idealist involved in the plot against the prince, the other is Madame Demidoff, a beautiful agent of the Tsar.
When the candlesticks go missing at the border, the two engage in a race to get them back, both realizing that their very lives could depend on the retrieval.
==Adaptations== Two film adaptations were made: * ''The Emperor's Candlesticks'' (''Die Leuchter des Kaisers''), a 1936 Austrian production by Karl Hartl, starring Sybille Schmitz and Karl Ludwig Diehl. * ''The Emperor's Candlesticks'', in 1937, starring William Powell and Luise Rainer. <!--Split film/book article intentional - Please do not remove this comment-->
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{wikisource-inline|The Emperor's Candlesticks|''The Emperor's Candlesticks''}} * {{librivox book | title=The Emperor's Candlesticks | author=Baroness ORCZY}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors Candlesticks, The}} Category:1899 British novels Category:Novels by Baroness Orczy Category:Historical novels Category:British novels adapted into films Category:Novels set in the Russian Empire Category:1899 debut novels Category:1899 in Hungary Category:1899 novels Category:19th-century Hungarian novels
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