Author Description

What advice does Josefa Acevedo (1803-1861) give to middle-class Colombian housewives of the 1840s? To get up at dawn, take exercise, educate their children, and civilise their men - men who sleep on the sofa and spit on the carpet - but above all, to save time and money. The model they should emulate is the thrifty English housewife, a true paragon of self-reliance and industriousness in a modern society. This is the first and only translation into English of any of Acevedo's works. Sarah Sanchez has translated the first edition of the Treatise (1848) with accuracy and flair. In so doing she has made it possible for non-Spanish speakers interested in women's domestic culture to read and appreciate this rare Colombian example of nineteenth-century conduct literature. Catherine Davies' Introduction provides the reader with a snapshot of Acevedo's life and places the book in its literary and social context.