The Essential Handbook of Victorian Entertaining

By: Stephens, Autumn

Book Overview

An illustrated collection of amusing, authentic Victorian manners. Pick up the correct fork and dig into this delicious collection of Victorian society's weird, crazy and strange rules concerning dinner parties, teas, luncheons, social calls, overnight visits and more! Copiously illustrated with authentic line drawings by noted artists from the Victorian period.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0912517549
• ISBN13: 9780912517544
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Delightful book, but needs references

Victorian upper-class Entertaining, that is. What a delightful little book! I admit to a passion for old etiquette books, and what Miss Stephens has done is to take bits and pieces from various unidentified 19th-century sources and created a guide to dinner parties, country house gatherings, and the like. While few of us today have the leisure to pay formal calls, or have footmen to receive callers' cards on a silver tray, much of the advice given is still quite appropriate, even if couched in language that makes us smile. Would we not all agree that an overnight guest "should have a comfortable room . . . with bed linen that is fresh and well aired"? Or that "[w]e have no right to offend people with our manners or conversation"? Such simple rules of courtesy and consideration never go out of style, though details of how to dress and the accepted hours for meals may change. I am quite curious about one reference, however. "It is in utmost poor taste for a gentleman . . . to carry a little poodle dog (a man's glory is his strength and manliness, not in aping silly girls)." They did that? (Apparently, they did. A bit of searching reveals that the quotation is from a book called Modern Manners and Social Forms, published in 1889.) Which leads me to my one criticism. It would have been appropriate (and proper) for Miss Stephens to have identified her sources. While the books she drew from are undoubtedly long out of copyright, courtesy (both to the writer and to the reader who may wish to know more) should be a sufficient reason to give that information.

The Very Basics

This little volume is filled with the very basics of Victorian Entertaining. For those who are interested in the era and prefer light hearted fair, this is the book for you. Also it works well as a travel piece or small reference book for the more absorbed Victorian. I think for the money, it is better information than the Victorian Etiquette booklet by the same publisher. This book will tell you precisely what side of the table to sit on and what to say when you sit there...Have Fun!