Mathews, William. Getting On in the World; or, Hints on Success in Life. Chicago: S. C. Griggs and Company, 1882. Fiftieth Thousand. [11531]
Bright green publisher's cloth decorated in black & gilt, clean binding, 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches. viii., 365 clean pp. with index, followed by the publisher's catalogue. Very good. Hardcover.
A book of self-help based upon a series of articles the author wrote for the Chicago Tribune in 1871. It treats with such topics as Success and Failure, Good and Bad Luck, Choice of a Profession, Physical Culture, Concentration, Self-Reliance, Attention to Details, Decision, Manner, Business Habits, &c.
William Mathews (1818-1909), b. Waterville, Maine; d. Mathews entered Colby College at the age of thirteen, receiving an undergraduate degree at the age of seventeen, and pursued legal training locally, ultimately securing his LLD degree at Harvard Law School at the age of twenty-one. He wore many hats during his subsequent career: that of a school teacher, attorney at law, journalist, editor, librarian, and chair of the Department of English and Rhetoric in the University of Chicago (1862-1875).
The popularity of his Getting on in the World (1873) and The Great Conversers and Other Essays (1874) enabled him to retire from the University of Chicago and take up writing and editing as his chief labors. He was very successful in these endeavors.
