Originally this was published by the author (1784-1849), a former governor of South Carolina, as a 22-page booklet, in 1838. Before his death he added an appendix of the 1777 Irish duelling code, but this second edition was not printed until 1858, as a 46-page small book, still sized to fit in the case with one's duelling pistols. This code is far less blood-thirsty than many might suppose, but built on a closed social caste and standards of behavior quite alien to today.