1884 copyrighted text. A book on manners that strives to be familiar and conversational, with children doing a large part of the talking. Chapters cover manners: in general, at school, on the street, at home, toward the aged, at the table, in society, at church, at places of amusement, in stories and similar public places, in travelling (sic), and in borrowing. Each lesson includes an outline for teachers to write on the blackboard. The Schultz Archive copy contains most of the introduction, TOC, and a selection of pages, most of which are the outlines for the lessons. Some of the pages are difficult to read due to the quality of the copying.
1801 printing of the first American edition. Preface emphasizes Lord Chesterfield's approach to the refinement of taste; the epistolary style; and knowledge of life, men, and manner (appropriate for the gentleman, the scholar, and the man of education). Preface also states text has been revised and amended by Rev. Dr. Gregory to remove the parts which religion, virtue and morality would disapprove and to adapt it for schools and academies. Schultz Archive copy only includes the preface and first page of Letter sixty three: Of Style in Writing . . . Advantages of a good style . . . Examples of a bad Style . . . Cicero and Quintilian.
1801 printing. Contents include: absence of mind, attention, awkwardness of different kinds, bashfulness, company, rules for behavior in company, rules for conversation, economy, friendship, good breeding, and graces. Schultz Archive copy includes only pages 66 and 67 on letter writing from the chapter on graces.
1811 printing of a new edition corrected and enlarged. The Universal Letter-Writer; Or, Whole Art of Polite Correspondence: A Great Variety of Plain, Easy, Entertaining and Familiar Original Letters Adapted to Every Age and Situation in Life, but More Particularly on Business, Education, and Love: Together with Various Forms and Petitions, Suitable to the different Wants and Exigencies of Life; Proper Methods of Addressing Superiors and Persons of All Ranks Both In Writing and Discourse; and Valuable Hints for Grammatical Correctness on All Occasions. To which is added a Modern Collection of Genteel Complimentary Cards. Likewise, Useful form in Law, such as Wills, Bonds, etc. To which is subjoined an index, To enable the reader immediately to find out any particular Letter of Article wanted. For the youthful and uniformed mind. The Schultz Archive copy contains the preface, introduction, the index, and a few pages from the main body of the text.