The Code of Honor; or Rules for the Government of Principals and Seconds in Duelling
Charleston, SC: James Phinney, 1858.
Softcover. Very good. Third edition (first published 1838). 46 pp, original printed wrappers. Mild dampstain to top edge of wrappers and title page only, archival tape repair on to top margin of front wrapper; minor creasing; very good. Although critics suggested he was condoning the use of violence to settle disputes, Wilson (the forty-ninth Governor of South Carolina) insisted that dueling would remain common practice "as long as a manly independence and lofty personal pride...shall continue to exist." He argued for the right of individuals to self-preservation and said his rules would save lives by preventing indiscriminate shooting. He also advised readers on how they could avoid a duel without loss of face, "when and how to issue appropriate challenges, and how to judge and reply to a note as being honorable or otherwise" (Williams, Dueling in the Old South). An Appendix includes the Irish Code of Honor and reprints the sarcastic comments of a Massachusetts writer who noted that Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina would be held up as paragons of gentility if judged by Irish standards. Wilson retorts: "The idea of New England becoming a school for manners is about as fanciful as Bolinbroke's 'idea of a patriot king.'"
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