"An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting," Jane Collier

I almost bought this book on the strength of the title alone, without knowing anything about the contents. When it turned out to be an 18th-century anti-self help book I was ashamed of my doubts and promptly purchased it.

The subject is the fine art of making people miserable - your friends, your family, your servants, and (if you are absolutely desperate for subjects) yourself. Wonderfully psychologically astute before there was even such a thing as psychology, and hilarious as well. I'm surprised it's not more generally taught, as it's a short read and even if you sadly have no interest in learning how to be the best annoyance you can be, it's a good window into the daily life of the time - especially the relationships between masters, mistresses, and servants. Apparently nothing was quite so annoying as a master with transportation issues - was that horse really necessary or not?

The author, Jane Collier, was an 18th-century contemporary of Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson, and is now so obscure that she lacks even a decent Wikipedia entry for me to link to. But she must have been great company if "Essay on the Art" is anything to go by, although you probably wouldn't have wanted to get on her bad side.