x, 406 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : colour illustrations, colour portraits. ; 24 cm
Contents
Civil frontiers -- Gestures of peace and friendship -- Squatters and gentlemen -- High society -- Transgressions of a lady -- Defending professional honour -- Domestic worlds -- Trials of a governess -- Duties of a good husband -- Keeping up appearances -- New publics -- Street parade -- Social climbing
Summary
In colonial Australia manners marked the difference between savagery and civilisation, between vulgarity and refinement. Colonists recoiled in shock and confusion at the customs of Indigenous Australians, but they also sensed the savagery lurking in white society. Manners mattered, to individuals and to society
Notes
"A New South book"--T.p. verso
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-401) and index
