ADVICE LITERATURE IN AMERICA

Part 1: The Schlesinger Collection of Etiquette and Advice Books from the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

The collection was formed by Arthur Schlesinger, who used it as the basis for his historical study of American etiquette books.  However, it is far more than a collection of advice literature - it contains:

• Vital material for the study of Metropolitan culture - especially for New York and Washington DC;
• House-building manuals which teach us much about the different strata of society and gendered zones of activity;
• Material on health, personal appearance, diet and exercise;
• A vast body of evidence for home ecology;
• Much on luxury, conspicuous consumption and the need for material goods.

Social historians and scholars of gender will find a great deal to interest them in the 141 works collected here, which date from 1747 to 1900.