I chanced upon this book scan of The Recently Deflowered Girl. At first glance, it looks like your ordinary etiquette book, albeit of a weird topic. But it isn't so. Consider this, for example:
You meet an old bachelor friend of your family who has known you since birth. He takes you to his apartment promising to show you old tintypes of your parents. After deflowerment, you ask to see the pictures. He says, "There are no pictures, but your parents are in the next room."
You say: "Golly, I love surprises."
Obviously, this should not be taken seriously; the pieces of advice tongue-in-cheek, all. This shouldn't come as a surprise if you had known beforehand that it was authored by Edward Gorey, an author known for macabre literature/illustrations. Check out the book, worth a look.
If you want to see more of Gorey's works, check this out.
Photo: aussiegall, Flickr, Creative Commons
