Never: A Hand-Book for the Uninitiated and Inexperienced Aspirants to Refined

Urner, Nathan Dane, 1839-1893Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3

Word count: 54K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Never: A Hand-Book for the Uninitiated and Inexperienced Aspirants to RefinedAuthor: Urner, Nathan Dane, 1839-1893,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Oct 29, 2016

Editor's review

Published in the late nineteenth century, this is a guide to etiquette and conduct. Writing for readers he assumes are "uninitiated" newcomers, Urner sets out systematically the standards of speech and behavior in social settings and the cultivation of the self. The book belongs to moral philosophy and social etiquette (Class BJ), and its style bears the clear stamp of its era: gentle in argument, drawing on everyday examples, it discusses appearance and conversation but also honesty, temperance, and consideration for others. For today's readers its value lies not in copying its specific rules but in observing how the social ethics of an era were articulated—which advice still holds after a hundred years and which has become a footnote to social change. It suits light reading in cultural and etiquette history, and English learners as extensive reading in nineteenth-century prose. Read it with a comparative eye: set its norms against contemporary social convention to appreciate the differences of era and to draw out enduring principles of respect and propriety.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century European and American social etiquette and everyday life
Students of the evolution of etiquette literature or moral self-cultivation works
English learners seeking light extensive reading in accessible nineteenth-century prose
Readers who enjoy distilling general interpersonal principles from old-fashioned conduct advice

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a contemporary business or workplace social guide
Readers who prefer strongly plotted narrative or fiction
Rigorous researchers needing systematic scholarly apparatus and detailed annotation

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents first to grasp the overall structure, then read chapters of interest closely; there is no need to proceed page by page.
Mark entries that clearly differ from contemporary social habits and make a comparative note after finishing.
Test each piece of advice against specific situations by asking whether it still holds, to probe its limits of applicability.
When reading the English original, read the first and last sentences of a paragraph for the main idea, then return to the example details.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no grounding in etiquette at all?

Yes. The author wrote for "uninitiated" newcomers, and the text relies mainly on reasoning and everyday examples, assuming no specialized etiquette knowledge. The norms, however, carry nineteenth-century background, so readers should treat it as an introductory reference rather than a contemporary code of conduct; where it conflicts with today's habits, consider the social conditions behind it.

Do the etiquette suggestions still have practical value today?

Some specific rules have lapsed with changing times, but basic principles about tact in speech, keeping one's word, consideration for others, and self-restraint remain instructive. The safer approach is to separate specific items from general principles: treat the former as historical material and distill the latter into inspiration for contemporary interaction, rather than copying them item by item.

Will readers with average English find this book difficult?

The book is nineteenth-century prose with long sentences but not difficult vocabulary; moderate English reading ability is enough to attempt it. Start with short chapters to build rhythm, grasp the main clause first in long sentences without getting stuck on rare words; reading alongside a Chinese translation or background material can also lower the threshold.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Urner, Nathan Dane, 1839-1893 Author

Nathan Dane Urner (1839-1893) is an English-language author whose birthplace, nationality, and biographical details are only sparsely recorded in publicly available sources. Two of his works are held in this collection. Judging from the surviving titles, his writing has a pronounced advisory and instructive character. One is a handbook for beginners whose title begins with "Never" and whose subtitle, "A Hand-Book for the Uninitiated and Inexperienced Aspirants to Refined," suggests guidance in conduct and manners for readers not yet versed in refined society. The other opens with "Stop!" and is described in its subtitle as "A Handy Monitor, Pocket Conscience and Portable Guardian against the," presenting the book as a portable reminder and moral guardian. Both are compact in form and direct in tone, typical of nineteenth-century popular moral literature meant for casual reading and immediate self-examination. Because public information is limited, details of his life cannot be firmly established, and readers may best approach his writing through these practical, exhortatory booklets.