Abstract
Between 1890 and 1910, a large number of elaborately bound, profusely illustrated “parlor books” on elocution were published in America. These collections of “gems” for recitation, accompanied by brief summaries of Delsarte and Physical Culture, brought elocutionary instruction into the home. This essay identifies the parlor book genre and examines its commercialization of the art of oral interpretation. Examination of the books extends the scope of oral interpretation history beyond the mainstream of development to encompass a non‐academic, somewhat distorting, yet popular influence.
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