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. In that context, the historian Maurice Keen said that 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

21
by Gentleman
Published 1790
printed for the author: sold by Hookham, Bond-Street; Sewell, Corn-Hill; and Mrs. Harlow, St. James's-Street

22
by Gentleman
Published 1788
printed for the author by S. Gosnell, No. 13, Roll's Buildings, Fetter Lane, and sold by J. Murray, No. 32, Fleet Street; Messrs. White and Son, Fleet Street; and J. Debrett, Piccadilly

24
by gentleman
Published 1701
printed by J. Mayos, and are to be sold by J. Nutt near Stationers-Hall

26
by Gentleman
Published 1760
printed for D. Browne, without Temple-Bar; G. Keith, in Gracechurch-Street; J. Richardson, in Pater-Noster-Row; and B. Law and Co. in Ave-Mary-Lane

27
by Gentleman
Published 1753
printed for C. Davis, opposite Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holborn; M. Cooper, in Pater-Noster-Row; and J. Barnes, opposite the Hay-Market, Charing-Cross

28
by Gentleman
Published 1739
printed, and sold by W. Meadows, at the Angel in Cornhill; J. Clarke, at Homer's Head, the Corner of Essex-Street, in the Strand; R. Partington, next Thavies-Inn Gate, Holbourn; and the Booksellers of London and Westminster

30
by Gentleman
Published 1717
printed for John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard

31
by Gentleman
Published 1717
printed for John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard

33
by Gentleman
Published 1769
Printed by S. Powell, for Samuel Watson

34
by Gentleman
Published 1703
printed, and are to be sold by A. Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane

35
by Gentleman
Published 1713
printed for Nath. Cliff and Dan. Jackson, at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel

37
by Gentleman
Published 1756
printed for Thomas Trye, near Gray's-Inn-Gate, in Holborn

38
by Gentleman
Published 1761
printed for J. Jackson in St. James's-Street; and R. Baldwin in Pater-Noster-Row

40
by Gentleman
Published 1740
printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe, in Pater-Noster-Row