Arthur Martine

Very little biographical information about Arthur Martine can be confirmed from readily available reliable public sources. He is chiefly known as the author credited for Martine's Hand-Book of Etiquette, and Guide to True Politeness, a widely circulated etiquette guide published in the 1860s.

That book gathers advice on introductions, conversation, letter writing, dining, dress, courtship, marriage, and public behavior. Its appeal today is twofold: it is both a handbook of manners and a snapshot of the social rules, expectations, and anxieties of 19th-century American life.

Because confirmed details about Martine himself are scarce, his reputation rests largely on the endurance of his work rather than on a well-documented personal history. For modern readers, he is less a fully known literary figure than a representative voice of an era deeply interested in courtesy, self-presentation, and the rituals of social respectability.