How to Woo ; or, the Etiquette of Courtship and Marriage. Ward, Lock & Tyler. London. [1877].

63 pages. Printed by Unwin Brothers, Chilworth and London. The second of "Ward Lock and Tyler's eight  'How' Hand-Books price 6d. each.  All edges gilt. Original cream endpapers.   Contemporary ink 12-line original poem on front free endpaper, dated January 4th 1877. Provenance: 'A. St. C. McM.'  "This volume now to 'Faith' I send | With hopes sincere that he | By all the hints herein contained | May benefitted be. | My birthday greetings with it go, | Be yours a happy life! | And ere this day again come round, | A true and loving wife! | I pray you then to read, mark, learn, | And inwardly digest, | What's meant for gentlemen, I mean, | And never mind the rest!". 71 x 99mm. Publisher's brown cloth with proprietary black blocked titling and design on upper cover,with lithographed pasted-on colour image between the words 'HOW TO WOO'. Small circular blind logo on lower cover. Not in Bondy, nor Spielmann, nor Welsh. OCLC, 560288601. WorldCat records two copies worldwide (British Library, and Cambridge University). Published in 1877, this manual serves as a fascinating cultural time capsule of late-Victorian social anxieties and gender dynamics. Unlike many guides that focused solely on women, this text provides specific protocols for both men and women, aiming to contain "unstable emotions" that might otherwise disrupt class structures. The book warns women to "eschew" any gentleman who shows a "want of punctuality," "sneers at things sacred," or displays "frivolity of mind". It explicitly advises suitors to observe a lady's conduct within her own family—specifically her patience with siblings and respect for parents—as a predictor of marital success. The author prioritises practical "exit strategies," including detailed instructions on how to decline a proposal or break off an engagement as painlessly as possible, rather than focusing on romantic ideals. It reinforces the "hands-off" policy of the era, stating that a gentleman must treat his betrothed as a "gentlewoman first" and a "woman only after the 'I will'".