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Mae Madden — cover
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Aeneas Press edition

Mae Madden

by Mary Murdoch Mason

The book, and the century it came out of.

An American girl loose in Italy with her brother and a chaperone, determined to see the country rather than the guidebook — and inclined to fall in love with the wrong Italian. Mason left almost no trace beyond this 1876 novel, published with an introductory note by a better-known writer; the heroine’s insistence on her own opinions was the point, and it was noticed. Illustrated with 34 full-page plates — paintings by De Nittis, Palizzi and Fattori among them.

The wheel of fortune guide you, The boy with the bow beside you Run aye in the way, till the dawn of day And a luckier lot betide you.
The first sentence of Mae Madden
A note on this edition

Mae Madden, by Mary Murdoch Mason, 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 112 pages
Reading time
about 2 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486835704
The plates

34 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.

Street of Naples, Giuseppe De Nittis
Street of Naples Giuseppe De Nittis 1865
The evening Star, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
The evening Star Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot 1864
Filles des champs, Amélie Léonie Fayolle
Filles des champs Amélie Léonie Fayolle 1864
A Seascape, Shipping by Moonlight, Claude Monet
A Seascape, Shipping by Moonlight Claude Monet 1864
Rose season, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Rose season Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1864
Resting, Henri Lehmann
Resting Henri Lehmann 1864
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 Mae Madden as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of Mae Madden as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

Mae Madden, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Love & Society 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, 9785486835704, 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 Mae Madden?
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. Mary Murdoch Mason'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 112 pages, which is roughly about 2 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
Mae Madden
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