Nineteenth Century in Print, Books: Special Presentation- Self-Help and Self-Improvement

The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books

Self-Help and Self-Improvement

Many nineteenth-century Americans believed strongly in the individual’s capacity to improve and educate him- or herself, as well as in the importance of formal education. American society was also thought to be more fluid in its class structure than many European societies, a conviction which fostered the widespread faith that perseverance and hard work could enable the individual to rise in rank and in prosperity. At the same time, the growth of literacy and the waning of traditional structures of apprenticeship and household training made it both practical and necessary to offer in print form the kinds of practical instructions that an earlier era might have transmitted orally. The Nineteenth Century in Print accordingly offers a number of works of self-help and self-improvement, from advice on domestic economy and agricultural practice to hints on how to acquire the attributes of personal gentility that might speed one’s entry into a higher social class. Here is a sampling of these titles:

Thomas F. Adams, Typographia; or, The Printer's Instructor: A Brief Sketch of the Origin, Rise, and Progress of the Typographic Art, with Practical Directions for Conducting Every Department in an Office, Hints to Authors, Publishers, &c. (1854).

American Farmer's New & Universal Handbook. . . . or, An Improved and Complete Guide to the Treatment of Soils; The Operations of Productive Field Husbandry; Kitchen Gardening . . . the Whole Embodying a Plain, Practical, and Comprehensive Detail of Agricultural Economy in All Its Departments, throughout, the United States and the Canadas . . . By Practical Agriculturists (1854).

The Bazar Book of Decorum. The Care of the Person, Manners, Etiquette, and Ceremonials (1873).

Thomas Bridgeman, The American Gardener's Assistant. In Three Parts. Containing Complete Practical Directions for the Cultivation of Vegetables, Flowers, Fruit Trees, and Grape-Vines ([c1866]).

Christopher Crowfield [Harriet Beecher Stowe], House and Home Papers (1869).

A. J. Downing and George Wightwick, Hints to Persons about Building in the Country. By A. J. Downing . . . & Hints to Young Architects. Calculated to Facilitate Their Practical Operations. By Geo. Wightwick . . . with Additional Notes by A. J. Downing (1859).

George B. Emerson and Charles L. Flint, Manual of Agriculture, for the School, the Farm, and the Fireside (1862).

O. S. Fowler and L. N. Fowler, The Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology: With over One Hundred New Illustrations, Including a Chart for the Use of Practical Phrenologists ([1889])

S. A. Frost, Frost's Laws and By-Laws of American Society: A Condensed but Thorough Treatise on Etiquette and Its Usages in America, Containing Plain and Reliable Directions for Deportment in Every Situation in Life ([c1869]).

E. C. Gardner, Homes, and How to Make Them (1875).

Mrs. Goodfellow, Mrs. Goodfellow's Cookery As It Should Be. A New Manual of the Dining Room and Kitchen ([1865]).

Marion Harland, Common Sense in the Household; A Manual of Practical Housewifery (1872).