The gentleman & lady's companion
Subtitle: containing the newest cotillions and country dances, to which is added, instances of ill manners, to be carefully avoided by youth of both sexes.
Contributors: American Imprint Collection (Library of Congress)
Publisher: Printed by J. Trumbull
Published: 1798
Place of publication: Norwich
Language: eng
Number of pages: 24
Subjects: Dance -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. -- Early works to 1800.; Country-dance -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. -- Early works to 1800.; Dance Instruction and Technical Manuals.
Genres: Handbooks, manuals, etc.; Early works to 1800.
Other titles: Gentleman and lady's companion
Description: The etiquette section of this manual anticipates many nineteenth-century concerns regarding decorum and bodily control, and some of the ill manners described include "swinging the arms, and all other awkward gestures" and "leaning on the shoulder, or chair of another person." The manual provides nine figures for the cotillon, a precursor to the quadrille consisting of a series of figures known as changes that were performed alternately with the cotillon figure. The manual also gives the figures for seventy-nine English country dances, a popular group dance performed by a column of men facing a column of women.
Notes: Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as facsimile page images and full text.
Signatures: [A]² B⁴ C² D⁴.