Victorian Etiquette, Manners, and Customs contains material written in 1899 by a Victorian lady, so the information contained is absolutely authentic. This book includes formal introductions, invitations, visiting customs, weddings, funerals and mourning, street etiquette, dealing with servants and children, parties, traveling, samples of business correspondence, and virtually every aspect of Victorian life. This book is perfect for those who are interested in writing historically accurate fiction or are simply curious about the Victorian era and life in the late 1800's.

Essential for understanding Victorian way of life, this is a very interesting book on the code of manners of Victorian behavior. This book is about life in the Victorian World when the British Empire never slept or the sun never set on it. America in the Victorian World was still a colony and indeed wanting to become it's own in identity. The book plays an important role in explaining that the rules and manner system of America was very similar to the British at least in the old families of Boston and Philadelphia. This highly entertaining little book is great for those just starting to learn about the Victorian culture.

"Manners For Men" is detailed guidance on behavior in the obsessively class-conscious late Victorian age, where a small mistake in manners could turn into a social failure. C. E. Humphry, the columnist of "Girl's Gossip," is a master of language and subtle irony. Thanks to her talents, this book is very readable and entertaining, even for a contemporary reader not interested in learning the rules of social behavior in the 19th century. Yet, at the time of publishing, the book was highly informative for a contemporary. It describes various situations like a trip in the omnibus, visiting a mass or a formal dinner, or even walking down the street.

Do unto others as you would others should do to you. You can never be rude if you bear the rule always in mind, for what lady likes to be treated rudely? True Christian politeness will always be the result of an unselfish regard for the feelings of others, and though you may err in the ceremonious points of etiquette, you will never be im polite. Politeness, founded upon such a rule, becomes the expression, in graceful manner, of social virtues. The spirit of politeness consists in a certain attention to forms and ceremonies, which are meant both to please others and ourselves, and to make others pleased with us ;a still clearer definition may be given by saying that politeness is goodness of heart put into daily practice; the.re can be no true, politeness without kindness, purity, singleness of heart, and sensibility. Many believe that politeness is but a mask worn in the world to conceal bad passions and impulses, and to make a show of possessing virtues not really existing in the heart; thus, that politeness is merely hypocrisy and dissimulation. Do not believe this; be certain that those who profess such a doctrine are practising themselves the deceit they condemn so much.

Regardless of time period, some things hold true: kindness is timeless. Invasion of privacy; divorce; relationship issues; encounters between people from different places and cultures; new technologies developed at dizzying speeds . . . the hectic pace of life in the late nineteenth century could make the mind reel. Wait a minute—the nineteenth century? Many of the issues people faced in the 1880s and ’90s surprisingly remain problems in today’s modern world, so why not take a peek at some Victorian advice about negotiating life’s dizzying twists and turns? Gathered from period magazines and Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms, a book on social conduct originally published in 1891, this volume provides timeless guidance for a myriad of situations, including: The husband’s duty: Give your wife every advantage that it is possible to bestow. Suggestions about shopping: Purchasers should, as far as possible, patronize the merchants of their own town. (Buy local!) Suggestions for travel: Having paid for one ticket, you are entitled to only one seat. It shows selfishness to deposit a large amount of baggage in the surrounding seats and occupy three or four. Unclassified laws of etiquette: Never leave home with unkind words. This advice is accompanied by watercolors and illustrations throughout. Though these are tips originate from nineteenth-century ideas, you’ll find that they certainly do still apply.

Looking at the subtle and often bizarre codes of manners that ruled all aspects of Victorian life, Andrew St. George demonstrates how far "manners" permeated the Victorian mentality, from the way they talked, dressed, furnished their houses, and courted their wives to the way they saw the world, judged their achievements, and expressed their inner feelings through literature. He draws links between etiquette books and sermons, and considers the new "democratic" manners of America, financial speculation and scandal, Darwinian science, and decadent verse.