The turn of the 19th century was a period of great change for Western Europe, encompassing revolutions political andsartorial. It was against this background that the novelist Honoré de Balzacwrote A Treatise on Elegant Living.Predating scandalous poet Charles Baudelaire’s essay “The Dandy” by decades,the work set out to define a man whose refined intellectualism was reflectedboth in his speech and his immaculate personal appearance. Now translated intoEnglish for the first time courtesy of independent publishers Wakefield Press,the tome issues instructions on dandyism via a series of waspish aphorisms suchas: “A rip is a misfortune, a stain is a vice.” Naturally, it’s essentialreading for any serious man-about-town.