IN HER STUDY of Samuel Richardson's correspondence, published in Transversales 5, Hélène Dachez explains what she defines as the ‘epistolary sociability’ of one of the greatest novelists of the century: a relationship in which, if the letter does not replace the immediacy of conversation in praesentia, it permits the creation of deeper links between correspondents while establishing, beyond the superficiality of some sociable contacts, true friendly connections. The present chapter will investigate the origins of British epistolary sociability in the eighteenth century by examining the eighty-eight epistolary manuals which were published in Britain between 1700 and 1800, several of which went through many editions, the whole making a total of over 250 manuals published in Britain. In order to determine how epistolary sociability evolved in Britain in the eighteenth century, it will generally interrogate the links between epistolary writing and sociability, pointing to elements of epistolary writing which had become commonly accepted both in France and in Britain in the eighteenth century. It will then highlight how the theory was adapted in Britain, where greater attention was granted to lower social categories, to commercial activities and to women than in France. Finally, limits of the theory of British epistolary sociability will be questioned in two short case studies: The Ladies Complete Letter-Writer and William Gilpin's letter-writer.

Epistolary manuals and sociability

Promoting the art of living in society was one of the numerous functions of epistolary manuals in the eighteenth century. Very few of them were made only of models of letters: some contained grammars, dictionaries, tables of abbreviations; many comprised sections focusing on social manners and habits, as suggested by the frontispieces of the manuals entitled Academy of complements. The variety of essays announced from the front pages of the manuals also testifies to the fact that letter-writing manuals were also concerned with the art of socialising. A New Academy of Complements; or, The Lover's Secretary (1715) also contained ‘The Silent Language; or, A Compleat Rule for discoursing by Motion of the Hand, without being understood by the Company’. A New Academy of Complements; or, The Compleat English Secretary (1748) offered ‘Dialogues very witty and pleasant, relating to Love, Familiar Discourse, and other Matters, for the improving the Elegancy of the English Speech, and Accomplishment in Discourse’ and ‘A Treatise on Moles’, ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’, ‘The Comical Humours of the Jovial London Gossips’.