A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation

by Jonathan Swift

A Complete Collection of genteel & ingenious Conversation, according to the most polite mode & method now used at Court & in the best Companies of England, commonly known as A Complete Collection of Genteel & Ingenious Conversation is a book by Jonathan Swift offering an ironic satirical commentary on the perceived banality of conversation among the upper classes in early-18th century Great Britain written in the form of a reference guide for those lacking conversational skill. It was completed in 1731, but may have been conceived of in 1704. One of his last works, it was written between bouts of vertigo & not presented for publication until 1738.

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1738

About the author

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

Reviews

[Cheryl]

"This book by Jonathan Swift is a satire on the use of clichés: its purported author, Simon Wagstaff, “can faithfully assure the Reader, that there is not one single witty Phrase in this whole Collection, which hath not received the Stamp and Approbation of at least one hundred Years.” The phrase to teach one’s grandmother to suck eggs was therefore already proverbial in the early 18th century."

word histories (dot) net

https://wordhistories.net/2016/10/12/...

[Roni Chittoni]

Explores key concepts in its field.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind blowing 18th century memes. I love this thing so much, i try to imagine people actually saying all these things and meaning it.