The American Gentleman

Early reprint; original copyright 1836. 18mo, 288pp. In attractive publisher's cloth with subtle dot pattern and gilt-stamped title. Moderate sunning and wear to extremities, including a quarter-inch loss at the heel. A characterful copy, stabbed in very ungentlemanly manner leaving a small puncture and impression through p31, but not affecting the legibility of the text. Engraved frontis and title page with more notable disruption, but camouflaged in the print. Pencil ciphering to rear endpapers; signature to front. Frontis of a wedding scene illustrated by Miss L. Sharp; title features vignette of George Washington, whom the author denotes as the model of American Gentleman-hood. Well-represented in institutions, but scarce in commerce.

Particular attention to "commercial dignity," noting that the American merchant class aspired to gentility and addresses the rise of "modern" riches. Chastity and Temperance are, of course, virtues; notable social guidance is supplied, "On the Folly of being anxiously curious inquire what is said of us in our Absence," and "On the Vanity and Folly of departing our Proper Sphere to become and Orators without previous and sufficient Preparation."