Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, credited to Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. Read by Sibella Denton. Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, was at one time Ambassador to the Hague, negotiated the second Treaty of Vienna, was a founding governor of London’s Foundling Hospital, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and Secretary of State. Having no legitimate children, his heir was his third cousin (another Philip) whom he adopted. Although known as a hard, calculating man, he is most well known for his letters to his natural son (i.e., illegitimate son) (also called Philip). When Philip died in 1768, the letters are addressed to his grandchildren (Philip’s two sons, Charles, and, yes, Philip!). (Sibella Denton) From the introduction: “The proud Lord Chesterfield would have turned in his grave had he known that he was to go down to posterity as a teacher and preacher of the gospel of not grace, but—"the graces, the graces, the graces." Natural gifts, social status, open opportunities, and his ambition, all conspired to destine him for high statesmanship. If anything was lacking in his qualifications, he had the pluck and good sense to work hard and persistently until the deficiency was made up. Something remained lacking, and not all his consummate mastery of arts could conceal that conspicuous want,—the want of heart. Teacher and preacher he assuredly is, and long will be, yet no thanks are his due from a posterity of the common people whom he so sublimely despised. His pious mission was not to raise the level of the multitude, but to lift a single individual upon a pedestal so high that his lowly origin should not betray itself. That individual was his, Lord Chesterfield's, illegitimate son, whose inferior blood should be given the true blue hue by concentrating upon him all the externals of aristocratic education.”

Recording facts

• Recording title: Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
• Author credits: Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 221
• Listed recording duration: 28:35:44

Catalogue topics

• Letters
• advice
• travel
• history
• aristocracy
• father
• politics

Opening tracks: first 24 of 221

1. 000 - Introduction — 9:24
2. 001 - Letter — 8:32
3. 002 - Letters 2-5 — 10:18
4. 003 - Letters 6-7 — 8:08
5. 004 - Letters 8-10 — 8:04
6. 005 - Letters 11-13 — 6:46
7. 006 - Letters 14-15 — 8:45
8. 007 - Letter 16 — 6:11
9. 008 - Letter 17 — 8:25
10. 009 - Letters 18-19 — 7:57
11. 010 - Letters 20-21 — 9:56
12. 011 - Letters 22-23 — 7:19
13. 012 - Letters 24-26 — 9:39
14. 013 - Letters 27-29 — 12:05
15. 014 - Letters 30-31 — 11:20
16. 015 - Letter 32 — 8:08
17. 016 - Letter 33 — 8:13
18. 017 - Letters 34-36 — 7:06
19. 018 - Letter 37 — 7:04
20. 019 - Letters 38-39 — 10:41
21. 020 - Letter 40 — 10:03
22. 021 - Letters 41-42 — 12:33
23. 022 - Letters 43-44 — 11:18
24. 023 - Letter 45 — 8:23

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.