The Great Conversers, and Other Essays

Chicago: S.C. Griggs and Co, 1876. Hardcover. Very Good +. Sixth edition. 304, [8] p.: map; 20 cm. Publisher's green cloth with gilt-stamped spine and cover titles; dark blue ruled decorations on spine and both boards. Dark brown endpapers. Former owner's name on first blank leaf following front endpapers: Mary A. Basto, Boston. Publisher's catalog on final unpaginated 8 pages. Contents: The Great Conversers -- Literary Clubs -- Epigrams -- Popular Fallacies -- Faces -- Compulsory Morality -- The Power of Trifles -- A Peep into Literary Workshops --French Traits -- Peasantry in Literature -- Our Dual Lives -- Merry Saints -- One Book -- Pulpit Oratory -- Originality in Literature -- Is Literature Ill-paid? -- Curiosities of Criticism -- Timidity in Public Speaking -- Noses -- The Battle of Waterloo (with map). Includes index. The author, William Mathews (1818-1909), is best known for his success manual, Getting On in the World, or Hints on Success in Life (1873). He followed that popular work with this collection of essays on a variety of topics, most related to the study or creation of literature. In Very Good+ Condition: ends of spine and corners rubbed; clean and tight.