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The Snare — cover
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Aeneas Press edition 20th Century

The Snare

by Rafael Sabatini 1875–1950

The book, and the century it came out of.

Portugal, 1810: Wellington’s lines at Torres Vedras, an Irish officer accused of an outrage against a Portuguese convent, a court martial, and a political trap set for him by men on his own side. Sabatini spoke five languages and chose English because, he said, all the best stories are told in it; the Peninsular detail is exact, and the villain is the diplomacy, not the French. Illustrated with 60 full-page plates — paintings by Lallemand and Vernet among them.

It is established beyond doubt that Mr. Butler was drunk at the time.
The first sentence of The Snare
A note on this edition

The Snare, by Rafael Sabatini, 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
9785501713970
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.

Soldiers in a Mountain Gorge, with a Storm, Joseph Vernet
Soldiers in a Mountain Gorge, with a Storm Joseph Vernet 1789
Satyr and Bacchante, Bénigne Gagneraux
Satyr and Bacchante Bénigne Gagneraux 1784
Het fregatschip Triton met een spiegelpaviljoenjacht, David Kleyne
Het fregatschip Triton met een spiegelpaviljoenjacht David Kleyne 1789
Doge visit to Scuola di San Rocco., Giuseppe Borsato
Doge visit to Scuola di San Rocco Giuseppe Borsato 1801
Blind Man’s Bluff, Francisco Goya
Blind Man’s Bluff Francisco Goya 1788
Evening School, Michiel Versteegh
Evening School Michiel Versteegh 1786
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 The Snare as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of The Snare as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

The Snare, 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, 9785501713970, 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 The Snare?
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. Rafael Sabatini'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.
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The Snare
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