How to Be Happy Though Married
Anonymous (a.k.a. A Graduate in the University of Matrimony). How to Be Happy Though Married, Being a Handbook to Marriage. First Edition. 1889. Book is hardcover with embossed boards and gilded titles. It is in good plus condition—covers show fading and light fraying.
The advice in this primer on married life runs the gamut. It swings wildly, from sardonic to helpful to archaic (from the 21st Century perspective). The author warns that much like government, marriage is a “series of compromises.” Despite the somewhat foreboding title, he generally praises what he euphemistically refers to as going “through the temple of Hymen.” And, quoting Socrates, he advises that it is as important to learn how to hold one’s tongue as it is to share it.
“Whether a man shall be made or marred by marriage greatly depends upon the choice he makes of a wife.”
--How to Be Happy Though Married