The House Servant's Directory: Or, a Monitor for Private Families : Comprising Hints on the Arrangement and Performance of Servants' Work [Hardcover]

Robert Roberts (Author), Graham Russell Hodges (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Provides a window into the work habits and thoughts of Anerican domestic workers and into antebellum African-Amrican politics. -- Georgia Historical Quarterly

Product Details

• Hardcover: 167 pages
• Publisher: M E Sharpe Inc (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765601141
• ISBN-13: 978-0765601148
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,397,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good household advice c. 1827, May 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The House Servant's Directory: Or a Monitor for Private Familes: Comprising Hints on the Arrangement and Performance of Servants' Work (Paperback)

The author, a black freeman and a prominent figure in Boston Abolitionist politics, published this remarkable work in 1827 not only as a handbook for servants but as a guide for proper behavior by masters toward their employees.
The recipes given are practical and detailed, and the editor believes "still useful today", but some ingredients may prove inconvenient, (bullock's gall) or downright dangerous (mercury) and adding live eels to a master's libations to discourage intoxication seems more a prescription for brief employment than a useful intervention.
Quibbles aside, Robert's work stands as a readable and useful view into an era little known to most Americans today.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)