TITLE : SECRETARY'S HANDBOOK: A MANUAL OF CORRECT USAGE, THE.*

The ninth edition of The Secretary's Handbook has been reset with additions in nearly every chapter, and five new chapters have been included. Every effort has been made to give information to secretaries who turn to the handbook as a guide in writing correspondence. It is hoped that the book will also give to other letter writers the authority they seek for punctuation, diction, grammar, correct letter forms, and up-to-date practices.

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Miss Isabel Stevenson Monro, who has assisted in the preparation of the nine editions.

The authors also acknowledge their indebtedness to the following persons and organizations for suggestions or for illustrative material: Miss Edith C. Boynton; Miss Helen G. Cushing; Mrs. Luella Deisenroth; Miss Esther H. Flynt; Mrs. Mary Clay Lloyd; Mrs. Elizabeth S. Rice; Elmer A. Richards; Mrs. Helen Roberts; Edward L. Sadowsky, Member of the New York City Council, and Mrs. Sadowsky; Miss Clare M. Tousley; Mrs. Edward Ziegler; Administrative Management Society; Aetna Life & Casualty, Hartford, Conn.; The American Library Association; American Telephone and Telegraph Company; Briarcliff Manor Public Library, Briarcliff Manor, N. Y.; Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Inc.; Miss E. Elizabeth Olson, Vice President, First Westchester National Bank, Ossining, N. Y.; General Federation of Women's Clubs; Mrs. Lisa Heinzmann; Gordon Maxson, James R. Thompson, George E. Shertzer, and Mrs. Theresa Smith, General Telephone & Electronics; Hudson View Manor, Yonkers, N. Y.; The Jennie Clarkson Home; Mrs. Ruby W. Quick, Jones Business College, Orlando, Florida; Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont; The National Conference of Christians and Jews. Queens Region, New York; National Geographic Society; National Secretaries Association; National Wildlife Federation; New York Committee of Young Audiences- lames M. Hester, President, New York University, New York, N. Y.; Orlando Public Library, Orlando, Florida; Ossining Public Library, Ossining, N. Y.; Personnel Department, Reader's Digest, Pleasantville, N. Y.; Regan of Westchester, Office Furniture; Mrs. Flora Lindsay Magoun and Mrs. Anne K. Ramsey, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida; Simmons College, Boston, Mass., Smith College, Northampton, Mass.; Tupper and Love, Atlanta, Georgia; J. C. Martin, Director, U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office; Unitarian Universalist Association; University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky; Lyman S. Rowell, President, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont; William H. Watts, Director of Public Relations, The Western Union Telegraph Company; Mlss Charlotte Moughton and Mrs. B. Dechert, Winter Park Library, Winter Park, Florida; The Woman's Club of Douglaston, Douglaston, N. Y.; Yale Alumni Magazine.

The authors have consulted the following style books, to which they acknowledge their indebtedness: United States Government Printing Office Style Manual (revised edition, 1967) and United States Covernment Correspondence Manual. They have also consulted the books listed under "Modern English Usage" in Chapter 21 ("Sources of Information for the Secretary") for determining various points of style and usage given in Part I.

KATE M. MONRO MARGARET D. SHERTZER

Preface to the First Edition

The number of good handbooks on English published during the last few years almost forbids the writing of another. Indeed it would be futile if a new one should approach the subject of good usage from the same point of view or should offer no different material. This handbook is intended primarily for secretaries whose duties include the writing of letters and other business forms. Not a day passes in a business office that some question of usage does not arise. Secretaries have desired a book planned from their point of view, stressing their problems. With this in mind, the manual has been written as a reference book containing authoritative usage.

The material is divided into two parts: the first containing rules with illustrations of correct form in English; the second consisting of various types of letters relating to business, social, and official usage, as well as other forms of business writing often required of the secretary. These include, among other types, the making of resolutions, the writing of minutes, the framing of petitions, and the compiling of reports.

With particular problems of the secretary in mind, specific directions have been given for the preparation of manuscript for publication and the reading of it in proof, for the making of indexes and the compiling of bibliographies. Other chapters contain sources of information for the secretary, and a number of citations used in conferring honors upon individuals. These will prove interesting and suggestive both for their content and for their manner of expression.

While the problems of the secretary have been emphasized, it is hoped the manual will prove helpful to all who are seeking concise information on points of correctness.

SARAH AUGUSTA TAINTOR KATE M. MONRO