The Man of Pleasure's Pocket Book

== Contents ==

== Contents ==

Annual pocket-books were a form of combined journal and periodical publication, which began appearing in England in the 1730s and were widely popular by the 1750s. They provided blank spaces for note-taking, storage pockets for personal items, and articles on entertaining or useful subjects. They were carried as a mobile reference text for daily life, supplanting the [[almanac]] as the go-to personal calendar.{{Cite journal |last=Colclough |first=Stephen |date=2015 |title=Pocket Books and Portable Writing: The Pocket Memorandum Book in Eighteenth-Century England and Wales |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/yearenglstud.45.2015.0159 |journal=The Yearbook of English Studies |volume=45 |pages=159–177 |doi=10.5699/yearenglstud.45.2015.0159 |issn=0306-2473}} ''The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book'' is bound in red leather, with pockets in the cover for users to store paper ephemera or money. The [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] features an [[engraving]] (illustrating fashionable dress in 1780, and the [[Royal Academy Exhibition of 1780]] in 1781).{{Cite book |title=The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book... For the Year 1781 |publisher=S. Bladon |year=1781 |location=London}} The first section provides fifty-two lined pages intended for the owner to take notes. These are described as including "the usual tables"; generally, pocket-books of this era included pre-labeled tables for recording social engagements and weekly expenses.

Annual pocket-books were a form of combined journal and periodical publication, which began appearing in England in the 1730s and were widely popular by the 1750s. They provided blank spaces for note-taking, storage pockets for personal items, and articles on entertaining or useful subjects. They were carried as a mobile reference text for daily life, supplanting the [[almanac]] as the go-to personal calendar.{{Cite journal |last=Colclough |first=Stephen |date=2015 |title=Pocket Books and Portable Writing: The Pocket Memorandum Book in Eighteenth-Century England and Wales |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/yearenglstud.45.2015.0159 |journal=The Yearbook of English Studies |volume=45 |pages=159–177 |doi=10.5699/yearenglstud.45.2015.0159 |issn=0306-2473}} ''The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book'' is bound in red [[sheepskin]] leather, with pockets in the cover for users to store paper ephemera or money.>{{Cite web |title=William Rogers account book of household and personal expenses of Thomas Pownall and others, 1780-1797. |url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/99108268293506421 |website=Princeton University Library Catalog}}> The [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] features an [[engraving]] (illustrating fashionable dress in 1780, and the [[Royal Academy Exhibition of 1780]] in 1781).{{Cite book |title=The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book... For the Year 1781 |publisher=S. Bladon |year=1781 |location=London}} The first section provides fifty-two lined pages intended for the owner to take notes. These are described as including "the usual tables"; generally, pocket-books of this era included pre-labeled tables for recording social engagements and weekly expenses. [[Princeton University Library]] holds a copy of the ''The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book'' owned by a British [[land agent]] who filled it with the expenses of his customers, including those of the colonial administrator [[Thomas Pownall]].

Following the blank section for note-taking, the book includes several articles about society life and leisure activities. The 1780 books contained eight articles: a list of "public Diversions" and the logistics of attending them; advice on seasonal fashions; a list of "the most elegant Amusements in Vogue"; advice on urban etiquette, for country gentlemen and students; tips for making pleasant conversation; a list of hotels; a ranking of notable women, described as an "annual Register of Toasts upon the ''haut'', ''milieu'', and ''petit Tons''"; and a dictionary of modern slang.{{Cite book |title=The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book ... For the Year 1780 |publisher=S. Bladon |year=1780 |location=London}} The 1781 pocket-book also included eight articles, but on slightly different topics: advice on fashion for the year; extracts of elegant writing in both French and English, "of the greatest Utility of Scholars who aim at writing French and English with Ease and Elegance"; a treatise on dancing, including a discussion of the new [[cotillion]] and "[[Minuet]] ''de la Cour''"; an expanded list of "Diversions" in London; a list of public leisure facilities in [[Bath, Somerset]]; an exercise routine practiced by the Royal Guards; advice on etiquette for "a Man of Pleasure"; and a piece titled "Circuit of the Judges".

Following the blank section for note-taking, the book includes several articles about society life and leisure activities. The 1780 books contained eight articles: a list of "public Diversions" and the logistics of attending them; advice on seasonal fashions; a list of "the most elegant Amusements in Vogue"; advice on urban etiquette, for country gentlemen and students; tips for making pleasant conversation; a list of hotels; a ranking of notable women, described as an "annual Register of Toasts upon the ''haut'', ''milieu'', and ''petit Tons''"; and a dictionary of modern slang.{{Cite book |title=The Man of Pleasure's Pocket-Book ... For the Year 1780 |publisher=S. Bladon |year=1780 |location=London}} The 1781 pocket-book also included eight articles, but on slightly different topics: advice on fashion for the year; extracts of elegant writing in both French and English, "of the greatest Utility of Scholars who aim at writing French and English with Ease and Elegance"; a treatise on dancing, including a discussion of the new [[cotillion]] and "[[Minuet]] ''de la Cour''"; an expanded list of "Diversions" in London; a list of public leisure facilities in [[Bath, Somerset]]; an exercise routine practiced by the Royal Guards; advice on etiquette for "a Man of Pleasure"; and a piece titled "Circuit of the Judges".

Historians have particularly highlighted the details of men's sexual culture implied by the ranking of notable women by their attractiveness in the "Scale of Beauty", and by the information about the availability of prostitutes which was included in the 1780 hotel guide.

Historians have noted the book for the details it provides about men's sexuality at the time, highlighting the ranking of notable women by their attractiveness in the "Scale of Beauty", and the information about the availability of prostitutes which was included in the 1780 hotel guide. The discussion of available entertainments in London also includes suggestions for brothels in [[Covent Garden]].

== Publication history ==

== Publication history ==