The New Education or the One Hundred Points of Character: Otherwise Called The School of Character. by Shaftesbury, Edmund (Webster Edgerly) - 1900

Washington, DC: Ralston Publishing Company. Very Good Minus/No Dust Jacket. 1900. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall A scarce book. According to Wikipedia: Under the pseudonym Edmund Shaftesbury, Webster Edgerly was a prolific author of self-help and utopian religious texts, producing over 100 books, most of them "official" books to buy as a member of the Ralston Health Club. He also dabbled unsuccessfully in real-estate speculation and the theater, and invented a language called "Adam-Man Tongue. One of his books, Life Building Method of the Ralston Health Club, endorsed the consumption of whole grain cereal. When William Danforth of animal feeds maker Purina Mills began making a breakfast cereal similar to the kind described in the book in 1898, he sought and received the endorsement of Edgerly to market Ralston breakfast cereal. Ralston cereal became so successful that in 1902 Purina Mills was renamed Ralston-Purina. In this book he suggests what constitutes moral character and how to develop it. This copy has a lightly sunned spine. Otherwise, a tight and clean copy. Decorated and attractive red front cover with art nouveau-style occult design and symbols. Silver and gold stamping. Scarce book. .