Wayne Erbsen has made it his lifelong passion to collect, preserve and perform historic American music. An active teacher, musician, writer, and publisher, he is President of Native Ground Music, Inc. He lives with his wife Barbara and their three children near Asheville, North Carolina.

"The Victorian era of American history was a time of rapid technological advancements and concentrations of wealth that were to transform America from a rural to an urban society. It was also a time of class distinctions in which proper etiquette could establish oneself as a person of quality -- or the lack thereof. In "Manners & Morals of Victorian America", author Wayne Erbsen presents an informed and informative text superbly enhanced with just under 500 historic engravings and illustrations as he details every aspect of Victorian life from the rituals of courtship, to dealing with rejected suitors, to the duties of husbands and wives, to the priorities and conduct of spinsters. From advice for young ladies, to unmentionables on the dinner plate, to women's suffrage, to the 'do's and don'ts' of wearing hats, "Manners & Morals of Victorian America" is a fascinating and enthusiastically recommended window into the morals and manners of an American past that will never come again" -- Midwest Book Review