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Aeneas Press edition Victorian

Conscience

by Hector Malot 1830–1907

The book, and the century it came out of.

A young doctor of great promise marries money, and the money has a condition attached that he discovers only when the man who holds it will not die on schedule. Malot abandoned law for journalism and wrote some seventy novels, one of which — Sans Famille — outlived them all; this one is his study of a conscience being negotiated with, item by item, by a man who is not a villain. Illustrated with 60 full-page plates — paintings by Gill, Manet and Caillebotte among them.

HECTOR-HENRI MALOT, the son of a notary public, was born at La Brouille (Seine-Inferieure[1]), March 20, 1830.
The first sentence of Conscience
A note on this edition

Conscience, by Hector Malot, 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 256 pages
Reading time
about 5 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785501990371
The plates

60 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.

A corner of Place de la Concorde in Paris, Giuseppe De Nittis
A corner of Place de la Concorde in Paris Giuseppe De Nittis 1880
Berges de la Seine au Pont des Arts : le charbonnier, Emile Antoine Guillier
Berges de la Seine au Pont des Arts : le charbonnier Emile Antoine Guillier 1880
Small Meadows in Spring - By, Alfred Sisley
Small Meadows in Spring - By Alfred Sisley 1880
Banks of the Somme at Picquigny, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
Banks of the Somme at Picquigny Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot 1865
October Morning at Grez, Christian Skredsvig
October Morning at Grez Christian Skredsvig 1880
Verger à Carlepont, Antoine Chintreuil
Verger à Carlepont Antoine Chintreuil 1865
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 Conscience as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of Conscience as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

Conscience, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Salon & Steppe 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, 9785501990371, 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 Conscience?
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. Hector Malot'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 256 pages, which is roughly about 5 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
Conscience
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