This paper analyses two case-studies of specialised nineteenth-century business letter-
writing manuals (Anderson 1836 and Williams – Lafont 1860). The investigation initially
focuses on the dynamics of transnational export of British epistolary guides both to
continental Europe and across the Atlantic. The analysis of the three American editions
of the first manual (Anderson 1836) offers an insight into the strategies of adaptation
performed by different publishing houses. The second step of the investigation is
represented by the analysis of specific linguistic strategies of politeness employed in
the model letters. The examples clearly show the preference accorded to the strategies
of negative politeness, a finding which supports the hypothesis on the ongoing
nineteenth‐century codification of new negative politeness culture in the British context
(Jucker 2012). In summary, this paper discusses the role of specialised business epistolary
guides in establishing, maintaining and strengthening transnational commercial networks
by imparting rigid sociocultural norms of proper business conduct.
