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Aeneas Press edition Victorian

Unknown to History

A Story of the Captivity of Mary of Scotland

by Charlotte M. Yonge 1823–1901

The book, and the century it came out of.

Mary Stuart in captivity at Sheffield and Tutbury, and a girl brought up in a Puritan household who may be the daughter the Queen of Scots lost — a question that draws her into Babington’s plot and the trial at Fotheringhay. Yonge wrote from the sources and the state papers; this 1882 novel treats Mary neither as martyr nor as murderess, which in the nineteenth century was almost a political act.

In p. 58 of vol. ii. of the second edition of Miss Strickland’s Life of Mary Queen of Scots, or p.
The first sentence of Unknown to History
A note on this edition

Unknown to History, by Charlotte M. Yonge, 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 512 pages
Reading time
about 10 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486168727
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 Fête at Bermondsey, Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder
A Fête at Bermondsey Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder 1571
The Peasant and the Nest Robber, Pieter Brueghel the Elder
The Peasant and the Nest Robber Pieter Brueghel the Elder 1568
Landscape with Peasant Cottage, Pieter Balten
Landscape with Peasant Cottage Pieter Balten 1581
Panoramic landscape with a city on the waterfront, Jan Brueghel the Elder
Panoramic landscape with a city on the waterfront Jan Brueghel the Elder 1589
Wedding procession, Jan Brueghel the Elder
Wedding procession Jan Brueghel the Elder 1566
The Burtscheider valley near Aachen, Lucas van Valckenborch
The Burtscheider valley near Aachen Lucas van Valckenborch 1570
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 Unknown to History as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of Unknown to History as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

Unknown to History, 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, 9785486168727, 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 Unknown to History?
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. Charlotte M. Yonge'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 512 pages, which is roughly about 10 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
Unknown to History
$6.99
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