1880 printing of the 1878 copyrighted text. The author is credited as the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Harvard College. This treatise defines rhetoric as the art of efficient communication by language, communication implying both a speaker or writer and the audience. Part one, Composition in General, discusses and illustrates the general principles of written or spoken discourse. Its sections are: grammatical purity (including good use, barbarisms, solecisms, and improprieties), choice and use of words (including clearness, force, elegance, number of words, and arrangement of words). Part two, Kinds of Composition, covers principles of narrative and argumentative composition. The appendix cover rules of punctuation. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1869 printing of the 1869 copyrighted text. The author is credited as a Doctor of Divinity, a Doctor of the Laws of English, and the President of the University of Michigan. Based on the experiences of the author's teaching, this text in an orderly presentation of the theory of the science and art of rhetoric with illustrations and directions on how to profit from it. Includes examples for imitation and disapproval from modern and ancient, obscure and celebrated authors. Divided into five parts: words and the material of expression, figures of speech and thought, composition and style, invention, and elocution. Part one includes sections on how to acquire the knowledge of words and how to obtain a good vocabulary. Part two includes sections on dialogue, vision, and wit. Part three includes sections on taste and different genres (epistolary, historical, fiction). Part four includes sections on description, narration, abstract subjects, and discussions. Part five includes a section on the intellectual and moral elements of elocution. The Schultz Archive is roughly the complete text.