Day, Charles William. The Maxims, Experiences, and Observations of Agogos. Boston: Otis, Broaders, & Co., 1844. [10827]
Black cloth decorated in gilt & blind, 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches, binding clean, joints fine, spine ends & corner tips worn through. 180, [5] generally clean pages, foxing on the first and last several leaves. Good. Hardcover.
First published in England, this collection of maxims and observations is a commentary on the "polite society" of the English public, pointing out, in general, its hypocrisies.
"Agogos" in Greek means leader, or teacher.
For example: "At the present day, the greatest drawbacks to the advancement of life in England are honour, delicacy, and high principle, or, indeed, any quality that elevates the human character. The honest man has no chance with the majority, who get wealthy by the most impudent frauds, and who, under the flimsy sophistry of been 'keen hands,' glory in the character of being rogues. The first qualification for success in business is to be an unblushing liar, then to have a determination to overreach whenever it can be done with impunity; add to this insolence and impudent assumption, whenever it can be shown, and you stand fair to be a 'good man of business.'" - pp. 76-77.
Charles William Day, English writer on etiquette, manners, and society.
