The 1920s marked the high point of refined dining, when silver tray bearing white-gloved waiters circulated among guests and starched linens and candlelit tables were de rigueur. For the decadent class that came to prominence during the post-war period, achieving a reputation for throwing the most recherche dinner parties meant instant social success, and many an enterprising host or hostess sought advice in J. Rey s "The Whole Art of Dining."
By turns a collection of practical advice and a catalog of eccentricities, "The Whole Art of Dining," republished by the Bodleian Library as "How to...