THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN - DOUGLAS SUTHERLAND -DRAWINGS TIMOTHY DEBRETT Tongue in cheek treatment

Tongue in cheek treatment of the legendary upper class man which examines his habits, actions and viewpoints concerning such diverse considerations as wardrobe, war, the Church and domestic habits.A constantly amusing satire! Originally written for Debrett's Peerage and now something of a classic, Douglas Sutherland's guide to that endangered species, the English Gentleman, was originally written as an antidote to all the endless, dull little books on manners and etiquette: the kind read by those who long to be recognised as part of the real gentry by the way they use their finger-bowl or address an Archbishop. Both genuinely informative and yet very funny in its self-deprecating tone, The English Gentleman offers a window to the parvenu on the rather perverse world of the genuine article. It describes his habits: where he might live, what he might wear, his school, his clubs, his hobbies and sports, his family and relationships, his behaviour when abroad, his mode of speech and the acceptable way to behave in almost any given situation (invariably the very opposite of what the outsider might think). Not to mention advice on the correct attitude to have toward money (it is vulgar), sex (it is vulgar) and business (it is vulgar unless, of course, it is run at a heavy loss). It all adds up to an unmissable initiation into the eccentric social history of the stiff upper lip. A hilarious and insightful look at the real life counterparts to the sort of squires found in the fiction of Nancy Mitford, PG Wodehouse and Compton Mackenzie. Proving that truth is often stranger than fiction.

Set of three from the series of amusing, perceptive, charmingly designed little books, with illustrations by Timothy Jaques.

SUTHERLAND (DOUGLAS), . The English Gentleman, introduction by Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, drawings by Timothy Jacques, Debrett
Peerage Ltd (1978 4th printing) with black and white drawings by Timothy Jacques, post 8vo. (pp. 77), hardback, with price clipped dust jacket (ownership inscription on endpaper,good copy, binding sound and contents clean). Red paper over boards with the Debretts Peerage crown on front board and gilt spine title, illustrated dustjacket.