Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the rank of ''gentleman'' comprised the younger sons of the younger sons of peers, and the younger sons of a baronet, a knight, and an esquire, in perpetual succession. As such, the connotation of the term ''gentleman'' captures the common denominator of gentility (and often a coat of arms); a right shared by the peerage and the gentry, the constituent classes of the British nobility.Thus, the English social category of ''gentleman'' corresponds to the French ''gentilhomme'' (nobleman), which in Great Britain meant a member of the peerage of England. English historian Maurice Keen further clarifies this point, stating that, in this context, the social category of gentleman is "the nearest contemporary English equivalent of the ''noblesse'' of France." In the 14th century, the term ''gentlemen'' comprised the hereditary ruling class, which is whom the rebels of the Peasants' Revolt (1381) meant when they repeated:
In the 17th century, in ''Titles of Honour'' (1614), the jurist John Selden said that the title ''gentleman'' likewise speaks of "our English use of it" as convertible with ''nobilis'' (nobility by rank or personal quality) and describes the forms of a man's elevation to the nobility in European monarchies. In the 19th century, James Henry Lawrence explained and discussed the concepts, particulars, and functions of social rank in a monarchy, in the book ''On the Nobility of the British Gentry, or the Political Ranks and Dignities of the British Empire, Compared with those on the Continent'' (1827). Provided by Wikipedia
|
by Gentleman of the Faculty
Published 1786
Published 1786
printed by Stuart and Stevenson, Bow-Street, Covent-Garden
|
by Gentleman at Durham
Published 1732
Published 1732
printed by T. Cooper, the Corner of Ivy-Lane, next Pater-Noster-Row
|
by Gentleman in the country
Published 1742
Published 1742
Edinburgh: printed in the year MDCCXLI. London: reprinted in the year
|
by Gentleman, Robert
Published 1792
Published 1792
printed and sold by G. Gower. Sold also by G. G. J. and J. Robinson, and T. Longman, Paternoster-Row, London
|
by Gentleman at London
Published 1747
Published 1747
printed for H. Slater, at the Golden-Key, the Corner of Clare-Court, Drury-Lane; and R. Adams, at Dryden's-Head, Holborn-Bars
|
by Gentleman of Cambridge
Published 1774
Published 1774
MDCCLXXIV. Sold by E. Johnson Ave Mary Lane, J. Walter Charing Cross, J. Bell Strand and T. & J. Merrill at Cambridge
|
by Gentleman, Francis
Published 1773
Published 1773
printed for J. Bell, near Exeter-Change, in the Strand; and C. Etherington, at York
|
by Gentleman of experience
Published 1781
Published 1781
printed for the author; and sold by J. Bell, near Exeter-Change in the Strand
|
by Gentleman at Durham
Published 1732
Published 1732
printed by T. Cooper, the Corner of Ivy-Lane, next Pater-Noster-Row
|
by Private Gentleman
Published 1784
Published 1784
printed and sold by R. Marchbank, No 11, New Buildings, Dame-Street
|
by Gentleman, Francis
Published 1772
Published 1772
printed for J. Bell, near Exeter Change in the Strand, and C. Etherington, at York