If I Were King
by Justin H. McCarthy 1860–1936
The book, and the century it came out of.
François Villon — poet, thief, and the best swordsman in the taverns — boasts in his cups about what he would do if he were king, and Louis XI, who is listening from the next table, gives him a week to make it good. McCarthy sat in Parliament for Irish Home Rule, then left politics for the theatre; this 1901 romance became a play, an opera by Rudolf Friml, and four films. Illustrated with 60 full-page plates — paintings by van Gogh and Seurat among them.
If I were king—ah love, if I were king! What tributary nations would I bring To stoop before your scepter and to swear Allegiance to your lips and eyes and hair.
If I Were King, by Justin H. McCarthy, 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.
- Series
- Adventure & the Sea
- Format
- Ebook
- Extent
- about 160 pages
- Reading time
- about 3 hours
- Illustrations
- Full-page plates, credited
- Text
- Complete, unabridged
- Language
- en
- This edition
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9785501050143
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.
This book in culture: 4 versions
Most people meet a book like this one on a screen first. Here is what was made of it — and none of these is the book.
The whole afterlife of If I Were King — screen, stage and beyond →
- 1923 If I Were King J. Gordon Edwards
- 1927 The Beloved Rogue Alan Crosland
- 1938 If I Were King Frank Lloyd
- — The Vagabond King Rudolf Friml dramatico-musical work
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.
Both photographed from the finished volume.
If I Were King, first published 1901, 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, 9785501050143, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.
Questions readers ask
- Is this the whole of If I Were King?
- 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. Justin H. McCarthy'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 160 pages, which is roughly about 3 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.
