[Rarebooks] For Sale: Inscribed copy of Miss Leslie's "Behavior Book"

[Norman Kane]

LESLIE, MISS [ELIZA.]  THE BEHAVIOUR BOOK: A MANUAL FOR LADIES.
Phila.: Willis P. Hazard, 1853.  The scarce first edition.  8vo, 
original blindstamped cloth neatly rebacked with matching 
cloth,  original label preserved.   WITH a presentation inscription 
by the author: "Gertrude Leslie From Her Aunt Eliza."   A nice clean 
copy of this interesting book  by Philadelphia's prolific and popular 
author of cookbooks, juvenile and adult fiction, &c.   She was the 
elder sister of the artist, Charles R. 
Leslie. 
("The Behaviour Book is more than just a look at mid-19th-century 
rules of etiquette. Leslie covers the wide range of daily life: four 
pages are devoted to selecting an umbrella (green silk ones weren't 
colorfast); she includes instructions for making a good black ink; 
and bed-making gets half a page. It's a chatty book, full of 
anecdotes (George Washington telling a tall tale to a credulous 
traveler) and one-paragraph essays on subjects like having a bedroom 
window open and how to refer to black servants. It's also a wealth of 
anecdotal information about Leslie's native Philadelphia, including a 
child's rhyme listing its principal streets. The two chapters on how 
to treat writers and how to become a writer probably answered 
questions Leslie had heard over and over. The Behaviour Book went
through at least three editions by 1859." )  $250.00  (Trade Discount 
Available)


THE AMERICANIST (ABAA),
113 Creeks Edge, Chapel Hill, NC USA 27516-8962
Telephone: 919-967-9287 email: nkane at kanebooks.com. Web: kanebooks.com
Proprietor: Norman Kane (Over 50 years as an antiquarian bookseller.)