A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, according to the most polite mode and method now used at court, and in the best companies of England. In three dialogues. By Simon Wagstaff.

(SWIFT, Jonathan)

Published by Printed for B. Motte, and C. Bathurst. 1738, 1738

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Description:

[4], lxxxvi, [2], 215, [1]pp ad., preliminary ad. leaf. 8vo. Endpapers & pastedowns browned & dusted. Contemporary calf, double gilt ruled borders; hinges cracked but firm, spine worn at head & tail, corners sl. worn. A good sound copy. ESTC T200363; Teerink-Scouten, 761. One of a number of variant issues published in 1738, this has the woodcut of a basket of flowers as the headpiece on page i, and the catchword 'as'. It is the scarcest variant, recorded in just 3 copies, (Hon. Society of King's Inn Dublin, Bodleian, and New York Historical Society). The work, arranged in a series of dialogues, is designed to teach by example, and offers the reader a method by which they might improve their own art of conversation. In his preface Swift notes that 'I always kept a large table-book in my pocket; and as soon as I left the company, I immediately entered the choicest expressions that passed during the visit; which, returning home, I transcribed in a fair hand'. These were the phrases not to use, and record the banality and cliché ridden conversation of early 18th century England. The work was dramatized in 1749 as 'Tittle Tattle; or, Taste a-la-Mode. A new farce. Perform'd with universal applause by a select company of belles and beaux, at the Lady Brilliant's withdrawing-room. by Timothy Fribble, Esq.'. Seller Inventory # 57769

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Complete Collection of Genteel and ...
Publisher: Printed for B. Motte, and C. Bathurst. 1738
Publication Date: 1738
Binding: Hardcover