Her Royal Highness Woman

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Title: Her Royal Highness Woman

Author: Max O'Rell

Release Date: July 28, 2010 [EBook #33285]

Language: English

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Also by MAX O'RELL

Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d.

BETWEEN OURSELVES

'He deserves to be a favourite. His genial familiarity is its own passport; he entertains you to a peripatetic feast of humour and good advice.... In short, he is good company, meet him where you will.... Open his new book, Between Ourselves, at random, and you will find upon every page something shrewd, reflective, and good-natured. Half the petty problems that go to make up life are here discussed with ease and witty garrulity.... Beneath the mask of Max O'Rell's witticism there is an honest face of experience and common-sense. He even helps the thoughtless to think a little for himself!'—Daily Chronicle.

'Truly, Max is a pleasant companion.'—Morning Leader.

'Max O'Rell is always bright, and he is a pretty keen critic of life. His book is full of good things, and will be read with profit, even if in nothing but amusement.'—Daily Telegraph.

'Everybody must read Max O'Rell's latest, Between Ourselves. He has so many wise things to say about many things, and such an irresistibly charming way of saying them all, that it is difficult to put down this latest offspring of his.'—Black and White.

'The keen observation, genial wit, and engaging frankness which combine to render Max O'Rell one of the most acceptable of social philosophers have been given an unusually wide field of exercise in the diverting pages of Between Ourselves, wherein some of the little problems of life—in point of fact, a good many of them—are discussed with characteristic humour and point in the author's familiar and always entertaining style.... Invariably amusing.'—World.

'One of the most entertaining volumes one could wish to read.... The book is full of witty and brilliant sayings, so much so that many of his quaint and pleasant assertions are likely to pass into proverbs.... Always interesting and amusing, sometimes satirical, and never dull, the author tells us much that the thoughtful may ponder with advantage.'—Birmingham Post.

'Extremely readable.... The little chapters are morsels of crisp common-sense, flavoured with light cynicism, and free from sermonizing.'—Daily Mail.

'Some of the little problems of life discussed with all the airy lightness to which we are accustomed from the author, and seasoned by his usual undeniable truth.'—Chic.

'Max O'Rell's philosophy has a gay winsomeness all its own. The joy of living, the beauty of the world, the delights of unselfishness, these are the themes upon which Max O'Rell, delicious satirist and 'cutest of observers, discourses. Penetrative sagacity and merry irresponsibility mingle in a frolicsome way.'—Literary World.

'It is perhaps not quite up to the high level of Her Royal Highness Woman, but will please the large public which delights, with reason, in all that comes from the pen of Max O'Rell.... On his own ground, in chaffing the people of this country on their weak points, he is inimitable.'—Athenæum.

'A worthy addition to an already long list.... Altogether, the reader will find in Between Ourselves abundant entertainment, together with not a little practical wisdom.'—Daily News.

'Expressed in Max O'Rell's witty and entertaining way. One great merit of the book is that you can open it at any chance page and make sure of getting amusement.... He is a close observer of human nature, and has a witty and trenchant way of expressing himself.'—Queen.

'There is cheery optimism in every line, and to tired, weary souls it comes as something of a tonic.'—Military Mail.

'Witty, amusing, and even instructive.... Few men observe with such keenness, describe with such fidelity, and write with such sustained good humour as Max O'Rell. He is a capital exponent of that light, epigrammatic, and witty style which is essentially Gallic. The book can be heartily recommended to those who enjoy that sort of literature, and they are legion.'—Empire.

'Bright, breezy, and entertaining, as usual.'—To-day.

'Open the book where you will, something pleasant and readable will be found.'—Glasgow Herald.

'Shrewd, humorous talk.... These entertaining pages.... Well, there is the book, with a red girl on its green cover, and a deal of pleasant beckoning in its many chapters and myriad paragraphs.'—Academy.

'This delightfully entertaining volume.... There are few types of men and women, few phases of life and character, which escape his shrewd perception, and of everyone he gossips in the airiest, wittiest fashion.... Between Ourselves is charming.'—Lady's Pictorial.

'Max O'Rell is a true humourist, a clever satirist, and an entirely human man.... This last work is certain to be as popular as Her Royal Highness Woman.'—Western Mail.

'There is a large amount of wisdom in its pages and much amusement.'—Week's Survey.

London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 St. Martin's Lane, W.C.

Also by MAX O'RELL

Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d.

RAMBLES IN WOMANLAND

'Max O'Rell has in this volume given us another entertaining and delightful dissertation upon woman and her kind. What Max O'Rell does not know about the sex to which he has not the honour to belong is hardly worth knowing.'—St. James's Gazette.

'It is too late in the day to dwell upon the features of style which render the work of Max O'Rell such easy and agreeable reading, and it is unnecessary to illustrate his pretty gift of phrase-making. He has gained his own place among popular authors, and offers no sign of vacating it.'—Pall Mall Gazette.

'We hardly know whether to recommend the book to our readers or not. They will not put it down, once begun—that is certain.'—Spectator.

'Max O'Rell, in his new book, expresses in his own peculiar and entertaining way many witty, satirical, and humorous ideas on the subject of the eternal woman.'—Daily Express.

'Max O'Rell is always entertaining, and provokes friendly discussion as readily as any writer I know. His new book contains many aphorisms, and some of them are very good.'—British Weekly.

'Max O'Rell supplies, not for the first time, a delightful mixture of commonplace and common-sense.'—Daily Chronicle.

'We have no doubt a great many people will enjoy the book, and the enjoyment will be innocent and wholesome.'—Academy.

'Max O'Rell's chaff is excellent, and all in perfect good taste.'—Pelican.

'The genial author takes up the cudgels on behalf of the better-looking sex in a way which should make his book tremendously popular with lady readers—especially the married ones.... A very entertaining book.'—Golden Penny.

'Contains some delightful reading.... It is a book happy in idea, felicitous in expression, cynically frank and refreshing in its candour.'—Gossip.

'Another collection of amusing and epigrammatic essays.... Max O'Rell, as everyone knows, has the gift of discoursing fluently and amusingly on any subject on which he touches, and to English and American people his good humoured criticisms are particularly valuable, as they are not only sound and sane in themselves, but they are written from an outside standpoint.'—Morning Leader.

'Women will not feel sorry that Max O'Rell's last work should be his new book on the fair sex. For many a year he has helped us with his gentle raillery, cheered us with his bright humour, and taught us much. Rambles in Womanland contains many little personal reminiscences and revelations, and its author's wit is undimmed. The book is full of epigrams, bons mots, and piquant criticisms.'—Gentlewoman.

'Max O'Rell's last book will add to the regret that his genial pen will write no more. Usually there is a tone of gaiety in what he says, but at all times he discusses important problems with all seriousness, and with not a little of the wisdom with which a wide knowledge of the world had endowed him. Max O'Rell's writings have always been notable for witty epigrammatic sentences.... His last work is a bright and engaging book.'—Daily Telegraph.

'With a pretty wit and a turn for epigram this writer can scarcely be dull, and no one will turn to one or other of these chatty chapters without being pleasantly entertained.'—Scotsman.

'Liveliness, amiability, charm, honourable sentiment, humour, every quality that the best kind of French culture produces, are open to anyone who can read English in the pages of Max O'Rell. Every page of these Rambles is sprinkled over with aphorisms.... This most entertaining book.'—Vanity Fair.

'There is much that is entertaining in these short pithy comments on women's characteristics, and occasionally criticism that penetrates deep beneath the surface, and reveals a vast amount of observation and knowledge of the world.... The book is full of smart sayings and clever aphorisms.'—Publishers' Circular.

'Whatever his theme, he is always bright, and the coruscations of his wit are exceedingly diverting.... This last contribution is full of good things, placed in an amusing setting.... These are but a few maxims culled from a crowded garden.... This wonderful little volume.'—Echo.

'Rambles in Womanland has between its covers much wisdom, served up with a pretty garnish of wit and that wholesome sauce—common-sense. Indeed, Max O'Rell has written nothing better than—in fact, nothing so good as—Rambles in Womanland. Here we have his riper wisdom, his fuller experience; but while he has gained in wisdom or experience, he has not lost his spiciness or his power of brief, terse epigram.'—Black and White.

'Full of sparkling common-sense.'—T. P.'s Weekly.

'There is enough fresh material to commend these Rambles in Womanland to those who have enjoyed rambling through the author's entertaining writings.'—Morning Post.

London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 St. Martin's Lane, W.C.

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS WOMAN

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

ON

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS WOMAN

'A delightfully amusing companion.... Max O'Rell is a keen observer, has genuine humour, and as a writer he is very amusing, because he refuses to take anything seriously.'—Punch.

'In Her Royal Highness Woman Max O'Rell is, as you might expect, at his best and brightest.'—Truth.

'It is, indeed, an amusing volume.... Most of what he says about woman is true enough, and wittily expressed.'—Times.

'The only Max has given us a treat in this book of selections from his best and most interesting sketches. His quaint, subtle humour seasons the light reading to a nicety, and we have not been provided with such neat comedy for some long time.'—Northern Weekly.

'Wise and witty.'—To-day.

'Max O'Rell has never written anything better.'—Morning Post.

'The book is so tactful that it ought to insure Max O'Rell a still greater popularity than he already enjoys.... It is a wholesome book for both husbands and wives to read.... It is as full as ever of the author's contagious good spirits and merry wit.... The whole 250 pages ... reads like the best of after-dinner speeches.'—Queen.

'Max O'Rell is talking very pleasantly, scattering seeds of wisdom in the sun. It is well that the book should be as superficially wise and witty as we find it.'—Academy.

'Have you read Her Royal Highness Woman? If not, you have something still to live for.'—Western Mercury.

'This delightful volume, we have no hesitation in saying it, will teach each class how to be happy though married.... A remarkably fresh and personal study of the eternal feminine.'—Birmingham Post.

'Never has Max O'Rell been more delightful than in his new book—delightful in his sense and in his nonsense, though Max O'Rell's nonsense has so much of sound reason in it that it is often worth more than other folks' solemnity.... It is good from the first taste to the finish.'—Weekly Dispatch.

'A book which Her Royal Highness should by all means read.'—Outlook.

'What Max O'Rell knows not about women you may depend she does not know herself. It is a pleasure to find a book to which one can give such unstinted praise.'—Books of To-day.

'The book teems with brilliant passages and witty sayings, all of them full of good sense and wisdom.... Altogether, this is a delightful book to dip into.'—Court Circular.

'He is witty and humorous, with a genial wisdom which is not seldom epigrammatic. His playfulness is delightful.'—Leeds Mercury.

'Woman, the problem of the ages, is an open book to Max O'Rell.... What Max O'Rell knows not, in his cheery French way, is not knowledge.'—St. James's Gazette.

'A witty and laughable collection of good things in favour of matrimony.... Full of matter for readers who can enjoy a good laugh.'—Scotsman.

'The fearlessness of the genial author of John Bull and his Island is as well known and liked as his wit; and both of them are pleasantly exemplified in his latest and most broadly universal book.'—Pall Mall Gazette.

'Always entertaining, often epigrammatic, not seldom instructive, Max O'Rell's studies form a volume destined, beyond a doubt, to figure largely as the topic of drawing-room conversation throughout the coming season.'—Literary World.

'Mr. Max O'Rell is always amusing, and sometimes almost instructive.... He is nothing if not a diplomatist, but he is something more—he is the keenest of observers.'—Lady's Pictorial.

'A handbook to matrimony. In his witty and wise remarks Max O'Rell deserves a prominent place among his compatriots in the study of women.... A bright and amusing book, with a good deal of common-sense in it.'—Daily Telegraph.

'Max O'Rell has written many excellent books, but never a better than Her Royal Highness Woman.'—Athenæum.

'Delicious. I wish I had space to find out a few other plums from Max O'Rell's amusing study ... shrewd and true.'—Free Lance.

'Should be in the hands of every woman.'—Le Temps.

'Humorous and amusing—yes; but withal one of the most complete and profound studies ever published on woman and love.'—La République.

London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111, St. Martin's Lane, W.C.

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

WOMAN

By

MAX O'RELL

AUTHOR OF

'JOHN BULL AND HIS ISLAND,'

'JONATHAN AND HIS CONTINENT,'

'WOMAN AND ARTIST,' ETC.

FIFTEENTH THOUSAND

LONDON

CHATTO & WINDUS

1903

I DEDICATE

THIS VOLUME

TO

'THE NICEST LITTLE WOMAN IN THE WORLD'

(CHAPTER XXXI.)

PREFACE

'Monsieur, Madame, et Bébé,' that most delightful, untranslatable book of the late Gustave Droz, by its genial and humorous philosophy and its pretty pictures of matrimonial life, by its healthy teachings and its piquant, poetic illustrations, has taught to thousands of French people how to make their married lives happier and more cheerful.

This unpretentious little volume of mine, which appears simultaneously in Paris, London, and New York, will not have been written in vain if it causes one married couple in each of the three great countries where it is published to study and understand each other better.

I dedicate it to married men and women, and to young men and women contemplating matrimony—a large public indeed.

MAX O'RELL.

P.S.—Did I hear you ask whether I have been married?

Oh yes, that's all right.

M. O'R

April, 1901.

CONTENTS