September 4, 2009

Etiquette


Today, I received Emily Post in my afternoon post. I'm so excited! This volume of Etiquette is a reprint of Post's 1922 first edition.


Widely regarded as the outspoken authority on social etiquette, Post writes about the proper etiquette from public gatherings to formal dinners, from weddings to funerals, and, you guessed it, letter writing.

As I read through the book, I will post excerpts from Etiquette, to both inform and entertain.

In her introduction to the chapter on Notes and Shorter Letters, Post writes about the importance of neat handwriting, stating:
Therefore, while it can not be said with literal accuracy that one may read the future of a person by study of his handwriting, it is true that if a young man wishes to choose a wife in whose daily life he is sure always to find the unfinished task, the untidy mind and the syncopated housekeeping, he may do it quite simply by selecting her from her letters.

4 comments:

phonelady said...

is this statement saying you can choose a good wife by the way she writes a letter ? excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor cause I am laughing so hard LOL!!!
excellent blog enjoyed it as I do everytime .Have a great wknd and a great friday .

The Missive Maven said...

Syncopated housekeeping? I love it! That would be me... though I hope my mind is tidy.

Munchkins Grammy said...

Hi I was just wondering if you might know what the orignal book cover from the first print in 1922 of this book looked like? I have been searching online and am not sure which one it is? Thanks for any info my email addy is munchkinsgrammy@gmail.com

James said...

Hey there, Munchkins Grammy,

I, too, am not 100% sure, but the typographical similarities between my facsimile copy and the the edition pictured in the below two links - along with the website authors' declaration that they own first editions of Etiquette - lead me to believe that these are the covers of the first edition:

http://thedepressionkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/emily-post-post.html

http://writingunderpressure.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/breaking-the-rules-using-present-tense-in-fiction/

Hope those links prove useful!

James