Vassouras or Forgotten Elegance

Vassouras: A Brazilian Coffee County, 1850-1900. The Roles of Planter and Slave in a Plantation Society

Author: Stanley J Stein

This book is a now classic social and economic study of the origins, apogee, and decline of coffee in the Parahyba Valley of South Central Brazil. Local society, the free-planters, professionals, tradesmen, and lower class citizens-and the slaves, are viewed through the routine of plantation life. The author shows how abolition, erosion, and bankruptcy transformed virgin forest into a wasteland of eroded hillsides and abandoned towns, of disillusioned planters and poverty-stricken black freedmen.

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Forgotten Elegance: The Art, Artifacts, and Peculiar History of Victorian and Edwardian Entertaining in America

Author: Wendell Schollander

History students and Victorian enthusiasts looking for comprehensive information on dining practices of Victorian America will find this book a vital resource. Revealing the history of 19th-century dining, clothing, and etiquette, the volume includes sample menus and explicit instructions explaining how to recreate a dinner, tea, breakfast, or lunch in the 21st century. Collectors of china, crystal, and silver will also find this book helpful because it provides a photograph of each piece of tableware that was used, with a history and description of the item.

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments
	Introduction
I	A Short History of the Art of Dining
1	A History of Formal Dining	3
2	Understanding the Food in a Victorian Meal	21
3	Wine and Other Beverages	31
II	The Accoutrements
4	Silver	59
5	China	95
6	Crystal	115
7	Visiting Cards and Invitations	133
III	Status and Etiquette
8	Seating Etiquette	143
9	Table Etiquette	149
IV	The Dinner Stage and the Props
10	Dress	165
11	Setting the Victorian Table	179
V	The Formal Meal as a Performance
12	The Progression of the Meal	197
VI	Giving an Elegant Dinner
13	Giving a Victorian or Edwardian Dinner	213
VII	Other Elegant Entertaining
14	Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate	241
15	Breakfast and Lunch	261
	English/French Glossary	275
	Further Reading	283
	Index	291