German writer, playwright, essayist, translator and teacher Baron Adolf von Knigge (1752-1796) - a representative of the late European Enlightenment. His name is well known in Germany, and this writer was also known in Russia. His novels (“The German Gilles Blas, or the Adventures of Peter Claudil”), satirical travel notes (“Travel to Brunswick”), and moral and philosophical essays enjoyed great and well-deserved popularity in their time. Adolf Knigge’s greatest fame was brought to him by his famous witty book “On dealing with people” (1788) - a unique set of rules of conduct and instructions in worldly wisdom, covering many areas of a person’s daily life in society. With the publication of this book, the author’s very name became a household name - “knigge” - and to this day. Germany generally refers to any book about the rules of good manners, about the art of living and being successful in human society, and the expression “living according to the Book” is understandable to most Germans and means being guided in your life by the rules and advice recommended by the writer. In Russia, the first complete translation of the book was published in 1820 - 1823 in St. Petersburg in the Marine Printing House. This translation by Jacob Langen, revised in accordance with modern standards of Russian spelling, is offered to the reader.