This book has been called the first complete guide to house-keeping published in America. It was very successful. Webb printed at least three editions between 1842 and 1846. Beginning in 1845 it was taken over by Harper & Brothers in New York, and according to the entries in WorldCat, it seems to have been reprinted at least once just about every year between then and the early 1870s. Harriet, who later collaborated with Catharine on another domestic manual, put her sister's expertise to use in 1851, when she asked Catharine to move in and take charge of her household while she finished writing Uncle Tom's Cabin.

A Treatise on Domestic Economy, For the Use of Young Ladies at Home, and At School. [excerpts]
By Miss Catherine E. Beecher. Revised Edition. (Boston: T. H. Webb, 1842).

Catherine Beecher in 1857 The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

CHAPTER I. PECULIAR RESPONSBILITIES OF AMERICAN WOMEN. CHAPTER II. DIFFICULTIES PECULIAR TO AMERICAN WOMEN. CHAPTER III. REMEDIES FOR THE PRECEDING DIFFICULTIES. CHAPTER IV. ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY AS A BRANCH OF STUDY. CHAPTER V. ON THE CARE OF HEALTH. CHAPTER VI. ON HEALTHFUL FOOD. CHAPTER VII. ON HEALTHFUL DRINKS. CHAPTER VIII. ON CLOTHING. CHAPTER IX. ON CLEANLINESS. CHAPTER X. ON EARLY RISING. CHAPTER XI. ON DOMESTIC EXERCISE. CHAPTER XII. ON DOMESTIC MANNERS. CHAPTER XIII. ON THE PRESERVATION OF A GOOD TEMPER IN A HOUSEKEEPER. CHAPTER XIV. ON HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER. CHAPTER XV. ON GIVING IN CHARITY. CHAPTER XVI. ON ECONOMY OF TIME AND EXPENSES. CHAPTER XVII. ON HEALTH OF MIND. CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE CARE OF DOMESTICS. CHAPTER XIX. ON THE CARE OF INFANTS. CHAPTER XX. ON THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN. CHAPTER XXI. ON THE CARE OF THE SICK. CHAPTER XXII. ON ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES. CHAPTER XXIII. ON DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES. CHAPTER XXIV. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES. CHAPTER XXV. ON FIRES AND LIGHTS. CHAPTER XXVI. ON WASHING. CHAPTER XXVII. ON STARCHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING. CHAPTER XXVIII. ON WHITENING, CLEANSING, AND DYEING. CHAPTER IXXX. ON THE CARE OF PARLORS. CHAPTER XXX. ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING-ROOMS. CHAPTER XXXI. ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS. CHAPTER XXXII. ON THE CARE OF THE KITCHEN, CELLAR, AND STOREROOM. CHAPTER XXXIII. ON SEWING, CUTTING, AND MENDING. CHAPTER XXXIV. ON THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS. CHAPTER XXXV. ON THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. CHAPTER XXXVI. ON THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT. CHAPTER XXXVII. MISCELLANEOUS DIRECTIONS.