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Loading... Don't: A Manual of Mistakes and Improprieties More or Less Prevalent in Conduct and Speech (1880)by Oliver Bell Bunce
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. While my companion was trying on dresses in St Peter's Hospice this afternoon, I wandered over to the book section to see if anyone had left anything weird and wonderful. And they had. This is a brilliant little book, which according to the spine is called Don't: a manual of mistakes, or on the front cover: Don't: mistakes and improprieties more or less prevalent in conduct and speech, the inside cover dubs it slightly more concisely as just Don't, while last but not least the title page claims the work is called Don't: a little book dealing frankly with mistakes & improprieties more or less common to all. Whichever title you choose, the gist is the same. This is an expanded edition of a book from 1884 that, through the medium of a long list of sentences starting "Don't", explains how to be a proper gentleman or lady. Some of them are fairly standard such as "Don't masticate your food with your mouth open" while others might be standard except for the delightfully quaint Victorian turn of phrase, as in, from the "For Women" chapter, "Don't ever disparage your hostess's hospitality by appearing at any function in a toilet which might suggest that you do not consider the occasion worthy of your choicest attire." The "expanded" part is a handful of chapters tacked onto the end of the book explaining how a Victorian gentleman acts while playing tennis ("Don't make audible comments disparaging other folk's play, it is very bad form"), while walking ("Don't walk more than three abreast"), while flying ("Don't mind occasional little ups and downs in flight. The pilot does not, so why should you?"), and when going on a cruise ("Don't, when packing, overlook your hot-water bottle, aspirin tablets, brandy flask, and field glasses"). There's a nice, dry English wit to the whole thing and while many of the sentiments are hopelessly outdated there's still enough in here to make me suspect I'll be a slightly better gentleman for the next few days. no reviews | add a review
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Etiquette; English language; Language Arts No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)395Social sciences Customs, Etiquette, Folklore EtiquetteLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Obviously there's a lot of advice here that — from a safe distance — just looks like common sense and basic good manners (it's always good to give your readers the feeling that they are already two-thirds of the way to respectability), as well as a lot that is simply obsolete, like the advice on dress. And there's a certain amount that was clearly excessive even when it was written. Anyone trying to follow the advice on dinner-table conversation literally would soon get stuck. Don't remain silent, don't talk about yourself, don't discuss religion, politics, or anything to do with health or digestion, don't be too witty, don't bore, ... and so on, for several more pages. And there are some odd omissions: there is nothing about how much to tip servants, for instance, and very little about visiting-card etiquette, both of which are often mentioned as points of social awkwardness by writers of the time. ( )