The Complete letter-writer. : Containing familiar letters on the most common occasions in life. Also, a variety of elegant letters for the direction and embellishment of style, on business, duty, amusement, love, courtship, marriage, friendship, and other subjects. To which is prefixed, a plain and compendious grammar of the English language. With directions for writing letters, and the proper forms of address. At the end are given forms of message-cards, and a copious English spelling-dictionary..
Edinburgh: : Printed by David Paterson; and sold by the booksellers.,
MDCCLXXI. [1771]
Title page in a decorative border.
The first edition of this title appears to have been in the 1750s, with many more following shortly after. By the 1760s it had acquired the subtitle "The polite English secretary", which was dropped for its first printing in Scotland in 1768. This is the second Scottish edition, around the same time the English version was reaching its thirteenth. David Patterson began his printing career in Glasgow but by this time was firmly establshed in the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh. He printed this text at least twice more in the 1770s.
ESTC
Contlemporary sheep, boards bordered with a double blind rule, an additional sawtooth pattern hand-tooled (somewhat clumsily) in blind along the spine edge, spine with raised bands between blind rules, head of spine lettered "LW".
Letter writing
Scotland Edinburgh.