Skip to content
A Gentleman of France — cover
Get your copy
Aeneas Press edition Edwardian

A Gentleman of France

Being the Memoirs of Gaston de Bonne Sieur de Marsac

by Stanley John Weyman 1855–1928

The book, and the century it came out of.

France, 1588: a Huguenot gentleman of forty with a good sword, a bad horse and no money is given a commission by the King of Navarre that cannot be admitted to and probably cannot be survived. Weyman failed at the bar and was briefly jailed in France as a suspected spy while on holiday; this 1893 novel made his name, and Stevenson admired it — the poverty of the hero is the fresh thing, and he counts every coin. Illustrated with 55 full-page plates — paintings by Younger, van Coninxloo and Dubois among them.

Many French words in the text have accents, etc. which have been omitted.
The first sentence of A Gentleman of France
A note on this edition

A Gentleman of France, by Stanley John Weyman, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 440 pages
Reading time
about 9 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486710766
The plates

55 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

Procession de la Ligue sur l’île de la Cité, au sortir de Notre-Dame, François Bunel the Younger
Procession de la Ligue sur l’île de la Cité, au sortir de Notre-Dame François Bunel the Younger 1590
The Cardsharps, Caravaggio
The Cardsharps Caravaggio 1596
Kitchen Interior, Dirck de Vries
Kitchen Interior Dirck de Vries 1600
Interior of a Catholic Church, Bartholomeus van Bassen
Interior of a Catholic Church Bartholomeus van Bassen 1626
Cityscape of Bruges, called The Seven Wonders of Bruges, Pieter Claeissens the Elder
Cityscape of Bruges, called The Seven Wonders of Bruges Pieter Claeissens the Elder 1564
Winter Landscape with a Bird-trap, Pieter Brueghel the Younger
Winter Landscape with a Bird-trap Pieter Brueghel the Younger 1586
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of A Gentleman of France as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of A Gentleman of France as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

A Gentleman of France, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Adventure & the Sea shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486710766, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of A Gentleman of France?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Stanley John Weyman's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 440 pages, which is roughly about 9 hours of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
If this one suits you
A Gentleman of France
$6.99
Buy the ebook