tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post3283116336330224598..comments2023-10-20T11:17:47.246-04:00Comments on Two Nerdy History Girls: "The Most Elegant Expressions Used in the Art of Courtship", c1750Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-91742082262095872932017-08-19T22:58:20.683-04:002017-08-19T22:58:20.683-04:00Thank you, thank you for finding and posting this!...Thank you, thank you for finding and posting this! It completes a piece of a historical puzzle I've encountered in writing my current book, and really makes some things fall together.<br /><br />What I'm finding so far: it would take looking at period letters to know how much people used some of the expressions these types of books contain, but there was a societal slant to the effect that the more you respected someone or wanted to win their favor, the fancier you dressed your language. You pretended to pull yourself down, as if you were worth nothing. Lovers made little dramas of weeping at the fair one's feet to implore her favor. <br /><br />There seems to have been an element of social drama and self-presentation in many interactions. This is nowhere more evident than The Church of England Man's Companion, which had been through fifteen printings by the 1770s, and has echoes even in the Book of Common Prayer. Some of the language is almost frightening, because of its despairing portrayal of human beings as woeful worms. <br /><br />Seen through the lens of the ideas of the time, however, it was the fanciest possible address of the utmost respect to the highest--so that if you called yourself worthless to your fellow gentleman, who was of your own class, you'd better really pull out the stops when talking to God.<br /><br />Thank you again for this post--it was timely. :-)Lucynoreply@blogger.com