CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THIS BOOK IS ONE OF A COLLECTION MADE BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 AND BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library Z5777 .P41 My cQpMy...books,,.by.„Elizabeth ,„Robins Pe 3 1924 032 313 375 olin 3f2 ^^1 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032313375 MY COOKERY BOOKS MY COOKERY BOOKS BY ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL BOSTON AISTD NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY MDCCCCIII Copyright 190S by Houghton, Mifflin and Company All rights reserved INTRODUCTION jLT is not given to every one to he a collector of fine hooTcs and rare first editions. The pi^izes are reserved for the millionaire. But the most modest bibliophile, by the pursuit of one special subject, may get together a col- lection valuable for other reasons. I do not hnow that I deserve so ambitious a name as bibliophile, but I have no doubt as to the value of the collection of cooTcery booTcs about which it has been my pleasure and privilege to write. I admit that to the moneyed booh-hunter, though he would envy me a few of my volumes, a great num- ber, from his point of view, might seem poor trash. JVbr do I claim for my collection completeness. I would not be so foolish with those two thousand five hundred entries in M. Vicaire's Bibliography forever haunting me as a reproach. But then, M. Vicaire does not own the two thousand five hundred booTcs, and I very much doubt whether any one individual ever will. The collector is but mortal. All I claim is that my collection has grown to respectable and, I believe, unrivaled proportions, and VI that the number of looks in it, and the countries and cen- turies they represent lend them as a series the importance which it would he absurd to attribute to each talcen sepa- rately. As for the subject, mine first by chance and now by pre- ference, it needs no apology. Everybody eats and every- body should enjoy eating. The old asceticism that held pleasure in food to be gluttony, and consequently one of the seven deadly sins, has all but disappeared. Even Woman has thrown off the traditional shacTcles and is no longer ashamed of an honest appetite. It is too late now for the novelist, however romantic, to carry her through the serious crisis of her life, with Fielding's Sophia, on " a little sacTc-whey made very small and thin.''' The new generation believes with Brillat-Savarin that love of good living is by no means a blemish in woman, though, perhaps, as yet, not every one would go to his lengths and believe that a pretty woman is never prettier than when at table. In one way, something of the old prejudice lingers. It is still considered demoral- izing, or, at least, " bad form " to think much ahaut food and drink. But this is a mistake. It was when men and women began to think about eating that they developed it Vll into the Fine Art it ought to be. Sounds might have re- mained mere noise hut for the musician, colors mere discord hut for the painter ; eating would never have been more than a gross necessity but for the gourmet. " 11 faut manger avec esprit" says a French authority, and to do so requires the thought and enthusiasm that the musician or painter gives to his art. Neither does the study of Gastronomy through the ages call for an explanation. " Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are''' is the fourth in Brillat- Savarin's list of Fundamental Truths. It would be more to the purpose to explain why the historian and the philosopher have hitherto paid so little heed to the subject. The world still waits for the Carlyle who will write for it a Philosophy of Food. When he comes he will find in my collection the material made to his hand. But if eating were not an art, if food had not its philo- sophy, my books would still be amusing, and that is their great recommendation. No black-letter man, vmr tall copyist, nor uncut man, nor rough-edge man, nor early English dramatist, nor Elzevirian, nor broadsider, nor pasquinader, nor old brown calf man, nor Cfrangerite, vm nor tawny moroccoite, nor gilt t(ypper, nor marhled in- sider, nor editio princeps man, to borrow Dr. Hill Bur- ton! s classification, could get as much genuine amusement out of his hooTcs as I do out of mine. Now this amuse- ment, for several reasons, either dwindles, or else changes its character so completely, hy the end of the eighteenth century that I have brought the story of my books and the bibliography down to no later date. In the nineteenth century there were, on the one hand, the cookery boohs, prosaic as primers, that, with their business-like, practi- cal, direct methods, were more useful in the kitchen than entertaining in the library; on the other hand, the books about cookery, so literary in flavor that they were not adapted to the kitchen at all. The new writers, of whom Orimod de la Beyniere was the flrst great master, brought about such a revolution in not only the style, but the very attitude of writers on cookery, that I pi^efer to consider their work by itself My study of all these books has made me sufficiently an artist to want to see my own volume as perfectly rounded out. It is my re- spect for them that shows me the folly of dogmatizing upon the many I do not know at first hand. In the fol- lowing pages, I do not pretend to rival M. Vicaire or IX Mr. Hazlitt biUiographically. I have not the temerity to wander further afield thayi my own collection. The illustrations speaTc for themselves. The old title- page always has charm, and, in the cooTcery book, it has besides a character of its own. It served the author the purpose of the modern tradesman's poster or advertise- ment until, at times, it seems as if his one object had been to sum up upon it the entire contents of his booh. The portraits that appear as frontispieces are, to me, an end- less source of delight. Wliat new dignity a cooTcery booTc acquires when a queen or a man of title presides over it! And with what increased deference one reads the receipts of the chef who evidently takes himself as seriously and solemnly as Robert May or E. Kidder! I wish I could give all the portraits. But it would be unfair to my col- lection if I did not also show some of the amazing allego- ries which occasionally replaced the portrait as frontis- piece, and of wMch the plates from Les Dons de Gomus and Dr. Lister''s edition of Apicius Coelius are typical examples. There are, moreover, the illustrations in the text. I should like nothing better than to include the com- plete series of plates from ScappPs book, for nowhere else that I know of is there so interesting and full an invent tory of the TcitcJien as it was in sixteenth century Italy. The models for the carver, whether of fish, fowl, or fruit, are characteristic, and the one design for setting a table harely does justice to a detail of dining, that, for long, pre-occupied the authorities. The eighteenth century books are full of such plates. It is impossible, however, to exhaust a collection like mine in a single volume. I can only hope that what il- lustrations there are, together with my praise, all too feeble, of the irresistible text, will send the curious to the originals. Though, in self-defense, it might be wiser to restrain the ardor of the enthusiast until a few of the more glaring gaps on my shelves have been filled. ILLUSTRATIONS COLOPHON : COELIUS APIOIUS, 1498 . . Opposite page 6 TITLE : THE COMPLEAT COOK, 1655 .... 14 TITLE : THE QUEEN'S CLOSET OPENED, 1655 . . 16 POETEAIT OE ROBERT MAT 26 TITLE : FOURTH EDITION OP MRS. GLASSE'S ART OP COOKERY, 1761 42 TITLE : A COLLECTION OP ABOVE THREE HUNDRED RECEIPTS, ETC., 1719 58 PRONTISPIECE : lister's COELIUS APIOIUS, 1709 . 68 TITLE : PIRST EDITION OP COELIUS APIOIUS . . 76 TITLE : LA SINGOLARE DOTTRINA DI M. DOMENICO ROMOLI, 1560 82 BANQUET OP CARDINALS : SCAPPl'S OPERA, 1570 . 84 THE VATICAN KITCHEN : SCAPPl'S OPERA, 1570 . 88 PRONTISPIECE : LES DONS DE COMUS, 1758 . . 92 PLATE PROM LB GRAND EOUTER TRANCHANT . 96 Xll TITLE : NUEVO AETB DE COCniTA, 1760 . . .106 TITLE : DE RE CIBAEIA, 1560 . . . . .112 KITCHEN UTENSILS, ETC. : SCAPPl'S OPERA, 1570 . 114 TITLE : LA VAEENlSrE'S CUISINIER ERAISrCOIS, 1656 . 120 TEAPOTS : LE BON USAGE DU THE, ETC., 1687 . . 122 TITLE : l'aRT DE CONSBEVER SA SANTE, 1753 . 126 TITLE : LA CUISINIEEE BOURGEOISE, 1777 . . 128 TITLE : GERVASE MAEE^IAM'S ENGLISH HOUSEWIEE, 1631 132 FRONTISPIECE : THE QUEEN'S CLOSET, 1668 . . 136 PORTRAIT OP SIE KENELM DIGBT . . . .138 PLAN OF THE TABLE : COMPLEAT CITY AND COUN- TRY COOK, 1732 148 PORTRAIT OP EDWARD KIDDER . . . .150 TITLE : FIRST EDITION OF MES. GLASSE'S AET OF COOKERY, 1747 154 "WOOD ENGEAVESTG BY JOHN BEWICK FEOM THE HONOUES OF THE TABLE, 1788 . . . .162 TITLE : AETE DE COCINA, ETC 168 MY COOKERY BOOKS MY COOKEKY BOOKS Xt was with something of a shock that I woke one morn- ing and foimd myself a collector of cookery books. I am not sure which seemed the more extraordinary, — that there should be cookery books to collect, or that I should be collecting them. I had thought — if indeed I had thought anything about it — that Mrs. Rorer and CasseU's Dictionary exhausted the literature of the sub- ject, though I had heard of Mrs. Glasse : partly because the " First catch your hare," which she never wrote, long since passed into a classical quotation ; and partly because, when I first came to London, George Augustus Sala was still writing the newspaper notes he could rarely finish without a reference to " good old Hannah Glasse." How- ever, had I known then, as I do now, that cookery books are almost as old as time, my principles — and my purse — were against collecting anything, especially in Lon- 2 don, where it adds seriously to the burden of cleanliness. But who does go about it dehberately? Mr. Andrew Lang calls collecting a sport; Dr. Hill Burton defines it first as a " human frailty," then as a " pecuKar malady," which is the definition I accept. Certainly I can trace my attack to its deadly germ. I had undertaken, in an ambitious moment, to write a weekly column on cookery for the Pall Mall Gazette, when my only quahfications were the healthy appetite and the honest love of a good dinner usually considered " unbecoming to the sex." To save me from exposure, a friend gave me Dumas' Dictionnaire de la Cuisine, the masterpiece of that "great artist in many varieties of form," to quote Mr. Henley, as it is appropriate I should, since he was the friend who came so nobly to my aid. The book was useful beyond expectation. I borrowed from its pages as lavishly as Dumas had, in compiling it, helped himself from the dishes and menus of Beauvilliers and Yuillemot. The danger was that I might borrow once too often for the patience of my readers; and so, chancing presently on the uniformly bound works of Careme,Etienne,and Gouffe in a second-hand bookshop, I bought them, vdthout stopping to ask if they were first 8 editions, — as they were not, — so far was the idea of collecting still from my mind. My one object was good " copy." But booksellers always manage to know you are collecting before you know it yourself. Catalogues poured in upon me, and I kept on buying all the cook- ery books that promised to be of use. Gradually they spread out into an imposing row on my desk ; they over- flowed to the bookshelves ; they piled themselves up in odd corners ; they penetrated into the linen closet, — the last place, I admit, the neat housekeeper should look for them. And yet, it was not until the summer when I went without a new gown, and carried off at Sotheby's, from the clutches of the dealer and the maw of the librarian, one of the few first editions of " good old Hannah Glasse " — the very copy from which Sala made hundreds of articles — for fifty dollars, and bought a bookcase for I do not remember how many more, that I realized what had happened, and then it was too late. Anyhow, my sin has not been the " unlit lamp and the ungirt loin." If it be a mistake to collect, at least I have collected so well that I have yet to find the col- lection of cookery books that can equal mine. It may 4 be put to shame when I consult M. Georges Yicaire's Bibliographie Gastronomique, with its twenty-five hun- dred entries, especially as M. Vicaire's knowledge of the English books on the subject is incomplete, and his ignorance of the American exhaustive, — he has never heard of Miss Leshe, poor man. But I am in counte- nance again when I refer to Mr. Carew Hazhtt's bibli- ography ; for I rejoice in a number of English books that have no place in it, while it barely touches upon foreign books, of which I have many. When it comes to actual collections, I triumph. Mr. Hazlitt speaks of the " valuable and extensive assemblage of Enghsh and foreign cookery books in the Patent Ofiice Library ; " but it dwindles to modest proportions when compared to mine. A private collection in Hampstead was de- scribed to me by Dr. Furnivall in terms that threatened my overwhelming discomfiture ; but, on examination, cookery proved a side issue with the collector, and though I felt like shpping two or three of his shabby little calf -bound volumes into my pocket when he was not looking, there were innumerable gaps I could have filled. The cookery books at the British Museum are many, but diligent searching of the catalogue has not Antoniusmota Advulgus. Plauditcfaftores:c«tari:pkuditc_ventres Plaudite myftili tc Ni Printed {otNath. Brook at the] An^elinCorn-hill^ i 6 ^ %. 15 fascinating Compleat Cook, a tiny volume, neatly bound in calf, "expertly prescribing the most ready wayes, whe- ther ItaUan, Spanish, or French, For dressing of Flesh and Fish, Ordering of Sauces, or making of Pastry," which was printed for Nathaniel Brook, the great pub- lisher of cookery books, at the Angel in Cornhill, 1655. I have also two DeUghts : one " printed by R. Y. and are to bee sold by James Boler 1632," with a sadly defaced title-page, upon which little is legible save the sage advice, " Eeade, practise, and Censure ; " and another of 1683, " printed for Obadiah Blagrave at the Sign of the black Bear in St. Pauls Churchyard." I have also a Pearl of Practice, and Hartman's True Preserver and Restorer of Health. But Closet or Cabinet is the more frequent title. When the name of the author does not appear, it is usually the Queen's Dehght of which there is question, the Queen's Closet or Cabinet which is opened. In my first edition of The Queen's Closet Opened, pub- lished by the same publisher, Nathaniel Brook, and in the same year, 1655, as The Compleat Cook, the title-page states that these are the Incomparable Secrets " as they were presented to the Queen by the most Experienced Persons of our times, many whereof were honoured with 16 her own practice, when she pleased to descend to these most private Recreations;" and that they were " Tran- scribed from the true Copies of her Majesties own Re- ceipt Books, by W. M. one of her late servants." In my later edition of 1668, a portrait of Henrietta Maria, — most likely a copy from Hollar, — severe in feature and dress, faces the title-page, much to my satisfaction; for, if the book turns up every now and then in booksellers' catalogues, mine is the only copy in which I have yet seen the portrait. When the name of the author does appear, it is usually one of great distinction. There is a " Ladies Cabinet Opened by the Rt Hon. and Learned Chymist, Lord Ruthven, containing Many Rare Secrets and Rich Ornaments of several kindes and different Uses." My copy, published in 1655, by Bedell and Col- lins, at the Middle Temple Gate, Fleet Street, is, alas, a second edition; 1639 is the year of the first. But the second has the advantage of containing the most gallant of prefaces. " Courteous Ladies," it begins ; and it ends, " I shall thus leave you at Uberty as Lovers in Gardens, to follow your own fancies. Take what you hke, and de- light in your choice, and leave what you hst to him whose labour is not lost if anything please." Another Closet, THE QjaEENS CLOSET OPENED- Incomparable Secrets in Thyjicl^ Chirurgery, Tre- ftrving^ Candjing^ and Cookery % As they were prefented to the QJD EE 3\(^ By the moft Experienced Perfons of I our times, many whereof were honon- rcd with her own pradice, when (he pleafed to defcend to chefe more private Recreations. Never be/ore fHbltP)ed. Tranfcribcd from the true Copies of her MAJESTIES own Receipt-Boob, by W.M. one of her late lervanis. Vivit fo^ fmer* virtus. j Printed for T^thanUt Brook, at ihc Angtl I in Ctrnhtll, 1 65 5. 17 " Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Cherry- Wine, etc., together with Excellent Directions for Cookery," was opened by no less a person than Sir Kenelm Digby, whose " name does suflBiciently auspicate the Work," as his son, who published it, writes in an inimitable preface. As he appears in Vandyck's portrait, Sir Kenelm Digby is so very elegant with his shining armor, so very intellectual with his broad expanse of forehead, that one would as soon expect to hear of Lord Sahsbury or Mr. Balfour writing a cookery book. His Closet has no place in Vicaire's Bibhography, nor in Hazhtt's; I have often wondered why; for, of all, it is my favorite. I agree with his dehghtful son that it " needs no Rhetorical Floscules to set it off," so pleasant is the thought of this " arrant mountebank," as Evelyn called him, — this " romantic giant," as later kinder crit- ics have it, — in the intervals between his duties as chan- cellor to the queen mother, and his intrigues for the Church, and his adventures as Theagenes, and his studies as astrologer, and his practice as amateur physician, sit- ting quietly at his desk writing out his recipes, as care- fully as any master cook or scrupulous housewife. Not only are these Closets and Cabinets and Dehghts as 18 sweet with rosemary and thyme and musk as the manu- scripts; they are as exact in referring every dish to its proper authority, they retain the tone of intimacy, they abound in personal confidences. " My Lady Middlesex makes Syllabubs for little glasses with spouts, thus," you read in one collection ; in another, " My Lady Glin useth her Yenison Pasties" in such and such a fashion; in a third, that "this is the way the Countess de Penalva makes Portuguez eggs for the Queen." The adjectives have the value of a personal recommendation : " The most kindley way to preserve plums, cherries, and goose- berries;" "A most Excellent Sirup of Yiolets both in taste and tincture; " " A singular Manner of making the Sirup of Roses; " " another sort of Marmalade very com- fortable for any Lord or Lady Whatsoever; " "An ex- cellent conceit upon the kernels of dry Walnuts." The medicines receive equal tenderness : "An exceeding fine Pill used for the Gout; " " a delicate Stove to sweat in; " " The Gift of God, praise be to Him, for all manners of sores ; " "A Precious Water to Revive the Spirits." Who would not swallow a dozen such pills and gifts and wa- ters, or sweat a dozen times in such a stove, without a murmur 1 But it is the confidential manner that I adore. 19 The compiler of the little vellum-bound Delight is for- ever taking you into his confidence. He revels in hints and innuendoes: "There is a Country Gentlewoman whom I could name, which" does so and so; or " This of a Kinde Gentlewoman whose sMll I doe highly commend and whose case I do greatly pity ; " and you divine all sorts of social mysteries. He has sudden outbursts of generosity: " I have robbed my wives Dairy of this se- cret, who hath hitherto refused all recompenses that have been offered her by gentlewomen for the same, and had I loved a Cheese myself so well as I like the receipt, I think I could not so easily have imparted the same at this time. And yet, I must needs confesse, that for the better gracing of the Title, wherewith I have fronted this pamphlet, I have been wilhng to publish this with some other secrets of worth, for the which I have been many times refused good store both of crowns and angels. And therefore let no Gentlewoman think this Booke too deare, at what price soever it shall be valued upon the sale thereof, neither can I esteem the worke to be of lesse than twenty years gatherings." And people think the art of self-advertisement was evolved but yesterday ! Sir Ken- ehn Digby is the great master of this confidential style. 20 If he gives my Lady Htmgerford's meath, he must ex- plain that she sent him special word that " She now useth (and liketh better) a second Decoction of Herbs," which he also conscientiously records. If he recoromends a sec- ond meath, it is because a certain chief burgomaster of Antwerp, for many years, drank it, and nothing else, " at meals and all times, even for pledging of Healths. And though he was of an extraordinary vigour every way, and had every year a child, had always a great appetite and good digestion, and yet was not fat." He is at pains to assure you that though Mr. Webbe, probably a master cook, did use to put in a few cloves and mace in the king's meath, "the King did not care for them; " that the " Hy- dromel, as I made it weak for the Queen Mother was exceedingly liked by everybody ; " that Sir Edward Bain- ton's metheglin, " My Lord of Portland (who gave it me) saith was the best he ever drank;" that for his strange dish of tea and eggs, Mr. Waller's advice is that "the wa- ter is to remain upon the tea no longer than while you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely." I sometimes think, if I were in need of bedside books, — which I am thankful to say I am not, — I should give my choice, not to Montaigne and Howell with Thackeray, but to Sir Ken- 21 elm Digby and the other openers of the old Closets and Cabinets.^ The success of these books may have helped to drive the English cook into authorship. The artist has not always the patience to be silent while the amateur dogmatizes upon his art. There is a suggestion of revolt in the pre- face Eobert May, the " Accomplisht Cook," addressed to his fellow practitioners. " I acknowledge," he says, " that there hath aheady been several Books pubhsht . . . for aught I could perceive to little purpose, empty and unprofitable Treatises, of as little use as some Nig- gards Kitchen, which the Reader, in respect of the con- fusion of the Method, or barrenness of those Authours Experience, hath rather been puzzled, than profited by." Mock humility has never been the characteristic of the cook. He has always respected himself as the pivot of civihzation. Other men, at times, have shared this re- spect with him. The Greeks crowned him with gold and * I am not sure that I would not add Gervase Markham's Eng- lish Housewife (1631) and Dr. Muffett's Healths Improvement (1655). Markham is, perhaps, the prettiest and most graceful of all these writers. But both books have come into my collection only recently, since this chapter was written. flowers. He went clothed in velvet, wearing a gold chain, in Wolsey's day. And in between, during the Roman rule, during ages of dark and mediaeval barbarity, the ceremonial of dinner and its serving testified that the light of truth still glimmered, if dimly. But none ever understood so well as he the full dignity of his profession. " A modest Master Cook must be looked on as a contra- diction in Nature," was a doctrine in the classical kitchen. By the middle of the seventeenth century Vatel ruled in France, and in England every distinguished chef was ready to swear, with Ben Jonson's Master-Cook in the Masque, that " A boiler, range, and dresser were the fountains Of all the knowledge in the universe ; " that the school of cookery, that " deep School," is " Both the nurse and mother of the Arts." Imagine his dismay, then, when the amateur began to masquerade before the world as artist. Had Sir Kenehn Digby ever turned out as much as a posset or a syllabub, could Lord Ruthven, the learned, make a peacock to look like a porcupine, or an entremose of a swan, that either should strut his little day as an authority ? Only the artist has the right to speak on his art. And as Leo- 2S nardo had written his treatises, as Eeynolds was later to deliver his discourses, so Eobert May, Will Eabisha, Giles Rose, and others, perhaps, whom I have not in my collection, began to publish books upon cookery. Jeal- ousy of the Frenchman may have been an additional in- centive. France had already the reputation for delicate dining which she has never lost, and the noble lord or lady who patronized the young apprentice sent him for his training across the Chamiel. May and Kabisha had both served their term in French households. But it was another matter when the French chef's book was trans- lated into English, and threatened to rob the Enghsh cook of his glory at home. May's preface is full of sneers at the " Epigram Dishes" with which the French "have bewitched some of the Gallants of our Nation.''^ Whatever the cook's motive in writing, he gave his book a character all its own. The actual dishes and drinks may be those of Closets and Cabinets, but the tone of intimacy disappears from the recipe; no name but the author's vouches for the merits of a dish ; the writer is no longer on a level of equality with his readers, but addresses them from a higher plane, the plane of know- ledge. There is no mistaking the air of authority. Offi- 24 cers of the Mouth receive their inBtructions, and irre- sistible little cuts of birds of strange shape, and joints of no shape at all, devices for pies and pastry, are intro- duced as a guide to the Carver and Sewer. Nothing is neglected, from the building up of those magnificent — the adjective is May's — triumphs and trophies, those subtleties, as elaborate as Inigo Jones's setting of a masque, that were " the delights of the Nobility," to the folding of " all sorts of Table-hnen in all sorts of Fig- ures, a neat and gentill Art," much in vogue. And throughout, the writer never forgets his own impor- tance. He is as serious as Montaigne's Italian chef, who talked of cooking with the gravity of the theologian and in the language of the statesman. His style is as fan- tastic as that of the cook in Howell's letter to Lady Cot- tington. He "will tell your Ladyship," Howell writes, " that the reverend Matron, the Olla podrida hath Intel- lectuals and Senses ; Mutton, Beef, and Bacon are to her as the Will, Understanding, and Memory are to the Soul; Cabbages, Turnips, Artichokes, Potatoes, and Dates are her five Senses, and Pepper the Common-sense ; she must have Marrow to keep Life in her, and some Birds to make her fight; by aU means she must go adorned with Chains of Sausages." 25 The very title of the cook's treatise was a marvel of bom- bast. Robert May's — the book was first pubhshed in 1660, by IS^athaniel Brook — must be given in full : " The Accomplisht Cook, or the Art and Mystery of Cookery. Wherein the whole Art is revealed in a more easie and perfect Method, than hath been pnbhsht in any Lan- guage. Expert and ready wayes for the Dressing of all sorts of Flesh, Fowl and Fish : The Raising of Pastes ; the best Directions for all manner of Kickshaws, and the most Poinant Sauces; with the Tearms of Carving and Sewing. An exact Account of all Dishes for the Season; with other A la mode Curiosities. Together with the hvely Llustrations of such necessary Figures as are referred to Practice. Approved by the Fifty Years Experience and Industry of Robert May, in his Attend- ance on several Persons of Honour." Let me quote just one other, for though it is as long, it is also as irresistible. The book is WUl Rabisha's ; the date, 1673 ; the pubhsher, E. Calvert at the sign of the Black Spread Eagle at the West End of St. Paul's; and the title: « The whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught, and fully mani- fested, Methodically, Artificially, and according to the best Tradition of the English, French, Italian, Dutch 26 etc. Or, a Sympathy of all varieties in Natural Com- pomide in that Mysterie. "Wherein is contained certain Bills of Fare for the Seasons of the year, for Feasts and Common Diets. Wherunto is annexed a Second Part of Rare Receipts of Cookery : with certain useful Traditions. With a book of Preserving, Conserving and Candying, after the most Exquisite and Newest manner: Delectable for Ladies and Gentlewomen." A title, this, that recalls Dorothy Osborne's coxcombs who " labour to find out terms that may obscure a plain sense." The note may be pitched high, but not too high for the grandiloquent flights that f oUow. Dedications, prefaces, introductory poems, are in harmony, and as ornate with capitals and itahcs as the dishes are with spices and sweets. The Accomplisht Cook is further " embellished " with May's portrait: a large, portly person, with heavy face, but determined mouth, wearing his own hair, though I hope he Uved long enough to take, like Pepys, to a periwig, so well would it have become him. Below the portrait, verses, engraved on the plate, declare with poetic confusion that, " Would'st thou view but in one face. All hospitalitie, the race yJlVliat^ inoii'd-yt tma akw hut in one face aU Ifojvthiliiie tlic nice , ,oftno/c' that Jor tlw Gtr^yto ■siamL whose i/ihlcs a wiwle^rk aymand jfT^uivj trli'Titic wouldst tnoU fen , V tfiis ft f/it, jjcrufc Ma i],y look^^fhsjjce^ ■: I.- I.. 27 Of those that for the Gusto stand. Whose tables a whole Ark comand Of Nature's plentie, would'st thou see This sight, peruse May's booke, 't is hee." A few pages further on there is another panegyric in verse, " on the unparallel'd Piece of Mr. May, his Cook- ery," and an appeal " to the Reader of (my very loving Friend) Mr. Robert May, his incomparable Book of Cookery," by an admirer who thinks only the pen " Of famous Cleaveland or renowned Ben, If unintoom'd might give this Book its due." Will Rabisha has but one poet to sing his praise ; he, however, does it thoroughly: — " Brave Book, into the world begone. Thou vindicatest thy Authour fearing none, That ever was, or is, or e're shall be Able to find the parallel of thee." The dedications are obsequious for such great men, but obsequiousness in dedications was the fashion of the day. May's book is dedicated not alone to Sir Kenelm Digby, but to Lord Lumley, Lord Lovelace, Sir Wilham Paston, Sir Frederick Comwallis, aU of whom, with the exception 28 of Lord Lovelace, contributed to Sir Kenelm Digby's collection of recipes. " The Maecenas's and Patrons of this Generous Art," May calls them, in a rhetorical out- burst. Eabisha, on the other hand, pays his tribute to two " illustrious duchesses," and three " renowned, sia- gular good, and vertuous Ladies," to whose " boundless unspeakable virtues " he would do the honor that in him lies. May was the "most humbly devoted servant to their Lordships," and Eabisha the " poor, unworthy ser- vant till death " of their graces and ladyships. But this was mere posing. The real man in May comes out when he addresses as "Most "Worthy Artists" the master cooks and young practitioners to whom he hopes his book will be useful; when he explains that he writes because "God and my own Conscience would not permit me to hury these my JExperiences with my Silver Hairs in the Grave." No one shall say of him that he " hid his Candle under a Bushel." It is the real Eabisha who dwells upon the " Many years study and practice in the Art and Mysterie of Cookery " that are his quaUfications as author, and the duty of " the ingenious men of all Arts and Sciences to hold forth to Posterity what light or knowledge " they understand to be obscure in their art. 29 The same spirit betrays itself here and there in the re- cipes. " The fruits and flowers that you make white must be kept in a dry place," writes Giles Rose, or his translator, " if you will keep them for your credit and honour." For your credit and honor ! There spoke the artist. Or again, for the whipping of cream, your whisk " ought to be made of the fine small twigs of Birch, or such like wood neatly peeled, and tied up in quantity a little bigger than your thumb, and the small ends must be cut off a little, for fear of breaking in your cream, and so you come to be made ashamed." That is the kind of thing, as Stevenson says, that reconciles one to life ! The flamboyant recipes, the monumental menus, are amusing; but what I love best in my cookery books is the " vanity of the artist " that is their inspiration. It was the vanity of the superior woman that inspired Mrs. Hannah Woolley, now forgotten by an ungrateful world. In 1670 she pubhshed The Queen-Like Closet or Rich Cabinet, with a Supplement added in 1674, that echpsed aU the Treasuries and Guides and Practices for Ladies that had already appeared, as it excels those that, later on, were to take it as model. It is the only seventeenth-century book of the kind in my collection; 80 but were the others on the shelf with it, I should still turn to Mrs. "WooUey as the perfect type of the Univer- sal Provider of her age and generation. She was sim- ply amazing, as no one knew better than herself. Like Eobert May, she did not believe in hiding her candle under a bushel; but where May wrote for the greater honor of his art, she wrote for the greater honor of her- self. Even had she pined for the peace of obsciu-ity, — which she did not, — her remarkable talents had made her conspicuous since childhood. Before she was fifteen she had been the mistress of a little school, — she tells the tale herself, — where she continued till the age of seventeen, " when my extraordinary parts appeared more splendid in the eyes of a noble lady in this Kingdom than really they deserved, and she greedily entertained me in her house as Governess of her only Daughter." Then, at -the death of the first lady, this prodigy was as greed- ily appropriated by a second, and presently " gained so great an esteem among the ISTobility and Gentry of two Counties, that I was necessitated to yield to the impor- tunity of one I dearly lov'd, that I might free myself from the tedious caresses of many more." As, before she had done with hfe, she had been married to "two SI Worthy Eminent and brave Persons," it is uncertain whether the first or the second " dearly loved " was Mr. Eichard WooUey, " Master of Arts and Header at St. Martin, Ludgate." The one thing certain is that it was from his house, in the Old Bailey in Golden Cup Court, she addressed the female sex, to whom her books — she wrote three in all — were to be a guide " in all Relations, Companies, Conditions, and States of Life, even from Childhood down to Old Age ; and from the Lady at the Court to the Cook-maid in the Country." There is a por- trait of her in one of the books : a large, pompous wo- man, with heavy bunches of curls on either side her face, in a low velvet gown and pearls, who looks fit to tackle anything. And indeed, it must be said of her that she never shrank from duty. She even stooped to poetry, since it was the fashion to introduce it in the beginning of all such books, and her rhymes are surprisingly frivo- lous and jingling for so severe a lady. " I shall now give you," is her introduction to the Supplement, which she rightly calls A Little of Every Thing, — "I shall now give you some Directions for Washing Black and White Sarsnet, or Coloured SilJcs ; Washing of Points, Laces, or the hke ; starching of Tiffanies, making clean Plate, 32 cleaning of Gold and Silver Lace, washing Silk Stock- ings, adorning of Closets with several pretty Fancies; things excellent to keep the Hands "White and Face and Fyes clear; how to make Transparent Work, and the Colours thereto belonging; also Puff Work; some more Eeceipts for Preserving and cookery; some Remedies for snch Ailments as are incident to all People; as Corns, Sore Fyes, Cut Fingers, Bruises, Bleeding at JVose ; all these you may help by my directions, with a small mat- ter of cost ; whereas else you may be at a great charge and long Trouble, and perhaps endanger your Fyes or Limbs. I shall give you none but such things as I have had many years experience of with good success, I praise God." ]S"or does this exhaust her resources. She offers, for " a reasonable Gratuity," to jBnd good places for servants who wiU call upon her at Golden Cup Court. She is as full of stories of the astounding cures she has wrought as the manufacturer of a patent pill. She writes letters to serve as models, so many does she meet with that she could tear as she reads, " they are so full of impertiaency and so tedious." She has advice for parents and children which " may prevent much wickedness for the future." S3 She teaches waxwork. On one page she is dressing the hearth for smnmer time ; on the next playing the art master, for she has seen " such ridiculous things done as is an abomination to an Artist to behold." As for ex- ample : " You may find in some Pieces, Abraham and Sarah, and many other Persons of Old Time, cloathed as they go now adaies, and truly sometimes worse." And that the female sex — and, as we know from the exam- ples of Mrs. Pepys and Pegg Penn, the female sex was then busy painting — may not f aU into similar error, she informs them of both the visage and habit of the heroes they, in their modesty, wiU be most apt to paint. Thus, " If you work Jupiter, the Imperial feigned God, He must have long Black-Curled hair, a Purple Garment trimmed with Gold, and sitting upon a Golden Throne, with bright yellow Clouds about him ; " or, if it be Hymen, the God of Marriage, you must work him "with long YeUow Hair in a Purple or Saffron-Coloured Mantle." There was nothing this ornament to her sex was afraid to teach. To judge from the condition of my copy of The Queen- Like Closet, she was not unappreciated. The title-page has gone ; the dog's-ears and stains and tatters might make one weep, were they not such an admirable testi- 34 monial. In 1678 it was presented to Mary Halfpenny by " Brother John Halfpenny when he was at Trinity College," and the fly-leaves are covered with her own recipes for syllabubs and gooseberry wine, for orange pudding and "plane" cake; and there is on one page a valuable note from her, to the effect that the tune of mushrooms is about the middle of September. Later, at some unknown date, the book became the property of Anna, Warden ; and about the middle of the next century it answered the purpose of family Bible to the Keeling family, so that I know to the hour when Thomas and Rebecca, children of James and Rebecca, were bom, — destined to grow up and prosper, I hope, imder the large and benevolent guidance of Hannah Woolley. I have never had the luck of the French collector who picked up Rousseau's copy of the Imitation of Christ, with the famous periwinkle from Les Charmettes pressed between the pages. But I prize even these modest names and notes on a fly-leaf or a margin; for me, they add a dis- tinctly personal charm to the shabby little old cookery book. Personal charm enough it has in itself, you might say, when it belongs to the seventeeiath century. The eigh- 35 teenth-century books are not without fascination and character, but they have lost something of the fresh- ness, the naivete, the exuberance, of youth; the style is more sophisticated ; the personality of the author is kept more in the background. May and Rabisha, Giles Rose and Hannah WooUey, are so entertaining in their self- revelations, they teU us so much of their age, besides the manner of its cookery, that the wonder is they should be cheerfuUy ignored, now that Howell and Evelyn and Pepys are household names. N: II EXT to eating good dinners, a healthy man with a benevolent turn of mind must like, I think, to read about them." The words are Thackeray's, and they en- courage me, if I need encouragement, in my belief that to go on writing about my Cookery Books is a duty I owe not only to myself, but to the world. If I have owned to a sneaking preference for the little calf and vellum covered duodecimos of the seventeenth century, courteous and gallant as the Stuart days to which they belong, I should lose no time in adding that it is to the eighteenth century I am indebted for the great treasure of my collection, — Mrs. Glasse in the famous " pot folio " of the first edition. The copy belonged, as I have explained, to George Augustus Sala, and came up for sale when his library was disposed of at Sotheby's in the July of 1896. This library was a disappointment to most people, — to none more than to me. I had heard much of Sala's cookery books, but small as my collec- tion then was I found only three that I had not already. Bartolomeo Scappi's Cuoco Secreto, in fine binding, but 37 not in the first edition (which I secured a year or two after) ; The Dehnonico Cook Book, and excellent it is ; and Mrs. Glasse, — The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy; "Which far exceeds any Thing of the Kind ever yet Published, to give her book its full title. In the preliminary paragraphs that went the round of the press, Mrs. Glasse alone received the honor of special men- tion; in that dingy httle salesroom in Wellington Street, where, however high passions — and prices — may run, the group at the table seem to have come together for nothing more exciting than a sociable nap, Mrs. Glasse again held the place of honor in a glass case apart. Everything pointed to a struggle. It would take a braver woman than I to face the " knock-outs " and " rings " before which the private buyer is said to be as a lamb led to the slaughter. When the day of the sale came, hke royalty at important functions, I was " repre- sented " at Sotheby's, and myself stayed at home with my emotions. The sequel is known. Is not the book on my shelves ? It came that same evening, the two others with it. " I am pleased," wrote my representative, " to be able to send you the three books, and aU below your as limit, and hope you will be satisfied." Satisfied ? "Was there ever a woman yet to whom a bargain was not half the joy of possession ? Sala, it was currently reported, valued the book at five hundred dollars ; I paid but fifty. It was not because he overestimated its rarity. The first edition is almost as rare as he thought. On the fly-leaf of his copy he wrote, July, 1876, that only three others were known to be in existence : one at the British Museiim, a second at the Bodleian, and a third in the library of a country clergyman. Since then only two others, to my know- ledge, have materialized. But Sala was a vandal ; his copy was evidently in a shocking state when he found it, in a barrow in a South London slum according to the legend, and he had the battered and torn pages mended, and the book bound in substantial and expensive, if in- appropriate binding. So far, so good. Still he also had it interleaved. He seems to have believed that his own trivial newspaper correspondence on the subject, care- fully pasted in, would increase its value. How often have I looked at the book and decided, at whatever cost, to get rid of the interleaving and the newspaper clippings, an insult ahke to Mrs. Glasse and myself ! How often 89 have I decided that to reduce it to its original slim- nees would be to destroy its pedigree ; not a very distin- guished pedigree, but still the copy was known m the auction room as Sala's, and, therefore, as Sala's must it not remain ? Whoever can settle this problem for me will lift a burden of responsibihty from shoulders not strong enough to bear it. Now I have the first edition, I do not mind admitting that no other treatise on cookery owes its reputation so httle to merit, so much to chance. It was popular in its own day, I grant you. The Biographical Diction- ary says that, except the Bible, it had the greatest sale in the language. It went into edition after edition. There are ten in the British Museum. I own six myself, though I vowed that the first sufficed for my wants. The book was repubhshed in Edinburgh. It was revived as late as 1852, perhaps later still, for all I as yet know. But almost aU the eighteenth-century books shared its popularity, — only the Biographical Dictionary has not happened to hear of them. I have The Compleat Housewife, by E. Smith, in the eighteenth edition ; I have Elizabeth Moxon's Enghsh Housewife, in the thir- teenth ; I have John Parley's London Art of Cookery, 40 in the eleventh, and I might go on through a list of titles and authors long forgotten by every one but me. All are as amusing now as the Art of Cookery, and were probably very useful in their day. The receipts are much the same ; indeed, the dihgence with which the authorities upon cookery in the eighteenth century borrowed one from the other, without a word of acknow- ledgment, ought to have kept the law courts busy. Nor does the manner vary more than the matter. Of most of the books the authors could say as truthfully as Mrs. Glasse of hers, that they were " not wrote in the high pohte stile." Not even her sex gives Mrs. Glasse dis- tinction in an age when authorship or public practice of any sort was indelicate in a female. Mary Eale, E. Smith, Ehzabeth Raff aid, — a charming person in a mob cap, if you can trust her portrait, — Charlotte Mason, Ehzabeth Cleland, Martha Bradley, were a few of her many rivals. And where are they now ? " Where 's Hipparchia, and where is Thais ? " If Mrs. Glasse alone survives, it is for one reason only, and that the most unreasonable. Her fame is due not to her genius, for she really had none, but to the fact that her own generation beheved there was " no sich a person," 41 and after generations believed in her as the author of a phrase she never wrote. And, indeed, no one would remember even the doubt at the time thrown upon her identity, but for Bos well. I know Cumberland also is an authority for the report that Dr. Hill wrote the book. HiE, he says, was " a needy author who could not make a dinner out of the press till, by a happy transforma- tion into Hannah Glasse, he turned himself into a cook and sold receipts for made dishes to all the savoury readers in the kingdom. Then, indeed, the press ac- knowledged him second in fame only to John Bunyan; his feasts kept pace in sale with Nelson's Fasts, and when his own name was fairly written out of credit, he wrote himself into immortality under an alias." But no- body nowadays reads Cumberland's Memoirs, and every- body reads Boswell, — or pretends to. The subject came up at Mr. Dilly's dinner-table. "Mrs. Glasse's Cookery, which is the best, was written by Dr. Hill. Half the trade knows this," said Mr. Dilly, who, being in the trade him- self, ought to have been an authority. But Dr. Johnson was of another opinion: "Women can spin very well, but they cannot make a good book of cookery," Mrs. Glasse's is not a good book, mistakes occurring in it; therefore, Dr. Hill, a man, could not have written it. I agree with Dr. Johnson's conclusions, but on far simpler grounds. The impersonation of Mrs. Glasse would, ia the end, have become too elaborate a joke to carry through, had Dr. Hill been as ingenious and as wanting in ve- racity as in Dr. Johnson's description of him to George in. The first edition of the Art of Cookery — the foho, sold at Mrs. Ashburn's China Shop, comer of Fleet Ditch, and at Mrs. Wharton's, at the Blue Coat Boy, near the Koyal Exchange — was published anonymously in 1747. " By a Lady " is printed on the title-page. Only later editions, the octavo, sold by innumerable booksellers. Dr. Johnson's friend Mr. Millar among them, appear with the name H. Glasse on the title-page and above the first chapter. To invent the name would have been no great tax on the imagination. But, by the fourth edition. Dr. Hill would have had to invent a trade as well. For in this edition, and in this one only, an im- pressive engraved frontispiece describes Hannah Glasse — and if the description is long, it is too inimitable not to be quoted in full — as " Habit-Maker, to Her Eoyal Highness the Princess of Wales, in Tavistock Street Covent Garden. Makes & Sells all Sorts of Eiding ■ "^ . .' ' ' . , ' ' '' 111 T;r, 'J 1 ^f> rkStivi^ifVA-J'itlCT.i 1.1 iS'if, ■\iUv theiii-.-iro/t iYiUW'WV. }■/.', ,-rA/-V//.»/.v/ rSf' Ji^il.Sorfs oi'i'i'iiJ'^^K JtLiices axCIii*;ij> a«IVrij(i jJioTlfakers ■; •'^i?fi'/, f'/U'^^f^f/^^i.*y//^rt^y^'^<''i^' 'fj^'/ •''f'\'''--» r/~.\;^ '^v/*'/ ^^ f'i'r-- Likt-\' iieaJJ Sorfs of\M.i/f|sjerarlr .Drefscs. 48 Habits, Josephs, Great Coats, Horsemens Coats, Eussia Coats, Hussar Coats, Bedgowns, Night-Gowns, and Eobe de shambers, Widows Weeds, Sultains, Sultans, and Cantouches, after the neatest manner. Likewise Par- liament, Judges, & Councellers Robes, Italian Robes, Cossockeens, Capuchins, N^ewmarket Cloaks, Long- Cloaks, Short Do. Quilted Coats, Hoop Petticoats, Under Coats, All Sorts of Fringes & Laces as Cheap as from the Makers Bonnetts, Hatts, Short Hoods and Caps of all Sorts Plain Sattins, Sasnetts and Persians. All Sorts of Childbed Linning, Cradles, Baskets «& Robes &c Also Stuffs, Camblets, Calimancoes & Worsted Damasks, Norwich Crapes & Bumbasins, Scarlet Cloaths, Duffels & Frizes, Dimitys, New Market Hunting Caps, &c. Likewise all Sorts of Masquerade Dresses." More than this. Dr. Hill, thus established on copper plate, would have had promptly to invent his failure. In 1754, three years later, Hannah Glasse figured among the bankrupts of the year; " Hannah Glasse of St.Paurs, Co- vent Garden, Warehousekeeper," is the entry. He would also have had to claim two other books : The Servant's Directory, published in 1760, ahnost fifteen years after the Art of Cookery, a book I have never been able to u find/ and The Compleat Confectioner, published in I can- not say what year, for my copy, a first edition, has no date, and the book is known neither to Hazhtt nor Vicaire. And as a last touch, he must have had the brilliant idea of opening a cookery school in Edinburgh, if I can trust " M. D.," who wrote a note on the fly-leaf of my copy of The Compleat Confectioner to protest against the revival, in the Times, of the old scandal. This was in 1866, when some one rashly called Mrs. Glasse "Mrs. Harris." Mrs. Glasse, M. D. says, " hved in the flesh La Edinburgh about 1790. She taught cookery to classes of young ladies. My mother was a pupil and fondly showed in her old age to her children a copy of Glaese's Cookery, with the autograph of the authoress, gained as a prize in the School of Cookery." "M. D." at once spoils her case by adding, " This book did contain ' Catch * Just as I am re-reading this before trusting it to the post, a package is handed to me. I open it. The Servant's Directory, or Housekeeper's Companion, by H. Glasse. The book I have been searching for during long years ! The miracle I owe, I am proud to say, to Mr. Janvier, whose intimacy with Mr. Hutchinson, Port of Philadelphia, has made him sympathize with me in my study of the Science of the Gullet. 45 your Hare.' " Not before seeing it could I believe. I have spent hoiu-8 in pursuit of the famous phrase, or, at least, the reason of the misquotation, in the hope that success might, forever after, hnk my name with that of Hannah Glasse. But I can come no nearer to the clue than the " First Case your hare," found in every cook- ery book of the period, that Mr. Churton Collins has just been offering as an explanation, and so depriving me of the chance of being the first with even this obvious discovery. Well, anyway, beheve in Mrs. Glasse, or not, the cookery book that bears her name is the only one published in the eighteenth century now remembered by the whole world. An d yet, it is in eighteenth-century books my collection is richest. They are mostly substantial octavos, calf bound, much the worse for wear, often " embeUished " with an elegant frontispiece, a portrait of the author, or picture of the kitchen, and, I regret to say, seldom very beautiful examples of the printer's art. Several have been given to me by friends who know my weakness. For instance, few books in my entire library do I prize more than the Collection Of above Three Hundred Re- ceipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery; For the Use of Xll TITLE : ISniEVO AETE DE COODfA, 1760 . . .106 TITLE : DE EE CIBAEIA, 1560 112 KITCHEN UTENSILS, ETC. : SCAPPl'S OPEEA, 1570 . 114 TITLE : LA VAEENNE'S CUISLNTIEE EEANCOIS, 1656 . 120 TEAPOTS : LE BON USAGE DU THE, ETC., 1687 . . 122 TITLE : l'AET DE CONSEEVEE SA SANTB, 1753 . 126 TITLE : LA CUISESriEEE BOUEGEOISE, 1777 . . 128 TITLE : GEEVASE MAEKHAM'S ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE, 1631 132 EEONTISPIECE : THE QUEEN'S CLOSET, 1668 . . 136 POETEAIT OF SLR KENELM DIGBT . . . .138 PLAN OP THE TABLE : COMPLEAT CITY AND COUN- TEY COOK, 1732 148 POETEAIT OP EDWAED KIDDEE . . . .150 TITLE : PmST EDITION OP MES. GLASSE'S AET OP COOKEEY, 1747 154 WOOD ENGEAVING BY JOHN BEWICK PEOM THE HONOURS OP THE TABLE, 1788 . . . .162 TITLE : AETE DE COCINA, ETC 168 MY COOKERY BOOKS MY COOKERY BOOKS JLT was with something of a shock that I woke one morn- ing and found myself a collector of cookery books. I am not sure which seemed the more extraordinary, — that there should be cookery books to collect, or that I should be collecting them. I had thought — if indeed I had thought anything about it — that Mrs. Rorer and Cassell's Dictionary exhausted the literature of the sub- ject, though I had heard of Mrs. Glasse : partly because the " First catch your hare," which she never wrote, long since passed into a classical quotation ; and partly because, when I first came to London, George Augustus Sala was still writing the newspaper notes he could rarely finish without a reference to " good old Hannah Glasse." How- ever, had I known then, as I do now, that cookery books are almost as old as time, my principles — and my purse — were against collecting anything, especially in Lon- 2 don, where it adds seriously to the burden of cleanliness. But who does go about it deliberately? Mr. Andrew Lang calls collecting a sport; Dr. Hill Burton defines it first as a " human frailty," then as a " peculiar malady," which is the definition I accept. Certainly I can trace my attack to its deadly germ. I had undertaken, in an ambitious moment, to write a weekly column on cookery for the Pall Mall Gazette, when my only qualifications were the healthy appetite and the honest love of a good dinner usually considered " unbecoming to the sex." To save me from exposure, a friend gave me Dumas' Dictionnaire de la Cuisine, the masterpiece of that "great artist in many varieties of form," to quote Mr. Henley, as it is appropriate I should, since he was the friend who came so nobly to my aid. The book was useful beyond expectation. I borrowed from its pages as lavishly as Dumas had, in compiling it, helped himself from the dishes and menus of Beauvilliers and Yuillemot. The danger was that I might borrow once too often for the patience of my readers; and so, chancing presently on the uniformly bound works of Oareme, Btienne, and Gouff e in a second-hand bookshop, I bought them, without stopping to ask if they were first 8 editions, — as they were not, — so far was the idea of collecting still from my mind. My one object was good " copy." But booksellers always manage to know you are collecting before you know it yourself. Catalogues poured in upon me, and I kept on buying all the cook- ery books that promised to be of use. Gradually they spread out into an imposing row on my desk ; they over- flowed to the bookshelves ; they piled themselves up in odd corners ; they penetrated into the linen closet, — the last place, I admit, the neat housekeeper should look for them. And yet, it was not until the summer when I went without a new gown, and carried off at Sotheby's, from the clutches of the dealer and the maw of the hbrarian, one of the few first editions of " good old Hannah Glasse " — the very copy from which Sala made hundreds of articles — for fifty dollars, and bought a bookcase for I do not remember how many more, that I reahzed what had happened, and then it was too late. Anyhow, my sin has not been the " unlit lamp and the ungirt loin." If it be a mistake to collect, at least I have collected so well that I have yet to find the col- lection of cookery books that can equal mine. It may be put to shame when I consult M. Georges Yicaire's Bibliographie Gastronomique, with its twenty-five hun- dred entries, especially as M. Yicaire's knowledge of the English books on the subject is iacomplete, and his ignorance of the American exhaustive, — he has never heard of JVIiss Leshe, poor man. But I am in counte- nance again when I refer to Mr. Carew Hazhtt's bibU- ography ; for I rejoice in a number of English books that have no place in it, while it barely touches upon foreign books, of which I have many. When it comes to actual collections, I triumph. Mr. Hazhtt speaks of the " valuable and extensive assemblage of English and foreign cookery books in the Patent Ofiice Library ; " but it dwindles to modest proportions when compared to mine. A private collection in Hampstead was de- scribed to me by Dr. Furnivall in terms that threatened my overwhelming discomfiture ; but, on examination, cookery proved a side issue with the collector, and though I felt like sKpping two or three of his shabby Httle calf -bound volumes into my pocket when he was not looking, there were innimierable gaps I could have filled. The cookery books at the British Museum are many, but diligent searching of the catalogue has not revealed so great a number or as many treasures as my small bookcase contains. A rumor has reached me of an extraordinary series left as a legacy to the Public Library at Salem (Massachusetts) ; but I have not the money to cross the Atlantic and face the truth, or the courage to write to the hbrarian and hear it from him. I know, too, by repute, of the books of the Society of Cooks at Bordeaux ; am I not just now in correspond- ence with their bookseller ? There is also, I know, a Company of Cooks in the city of London, but I doubt if they own a book, or, for that matter, can claim a real cook in their ranks. Besides, so long as I have seen no other existing collection, I can continue to flatter myself that mine is unrivaled. The reason for pride may not be clear to the average woman, who looks upon the cookery book, at its best, as a kitchen Baedeker, or to the average man, who would consider it unmanly to look upon it at all. But that is simply because the average woman and the average man do not know. The cookery book has every good quality that a book can have. In the first place, it makes a legitimate appeal to the collector, and M. Vicaire and Mr. Hazlitt show what the bibliographer can do with it. Man, the cooking animal, has had from the beginning a cooking hterature. What are parts of the Old Testa- ment, of the Yedas, but cookery books ? You cannot dip into Athengsus without reahzing what an inspiration food and drink always were to the Greek poet. As for the Komans, from Yirgil to Horace, from Petronius to Lucian, praise of good eating and drinking was forever their theme, both in prose and in verse. Early French and English historical manuscripts and records are full of cookery ; and almost as soon as there was a printing press cookery books began to be printed, and they have kept on being printed ever since. It would be strange if, among them, there were not a few that provided the excitement of the hunt and the triumph of conquest. For the lover of the early printed book, there are the De Honesta Yoluptate of Platina, 1474 ; the Viandier of Taillevent, — about 1490, according to Vicaire, is the date of the first edition; and the Coehus Apicius, 1486. For the " Elzevirian," there is the Uttle Patis- sier Frangais, that once fetched three thousand dollars in the sales room, and seldom brings less than three himdred, — prices that impart dignity to all cook books. For the " Editio-Princeps man," there is the rare Mrs. Antoniusmota Advulgus. PIauditefartores:csttari:pkuditeLVcntfes Plaudice myftili tecfla per vndla coqtri Pila fit albanis quaccunqj ornata lagscnf s Pinguc fuura copo limen obcfus amet Occupat infubrcs altind'mus illc ncpotum Gorges 86 vndances auget 8C vrgccaquas Ml Ilia fex vSntri qui (ixit Apicius airo Inde timens:fumplic dira ven6na;famem. loannes (alandus letHiori. Accipe quifquisamas irn'camenta palati: Prccepca;^ leges:oxigarumcp nouutn: Condiderac capuc:8C (lygias penitrauerac vndas Celtus:in lucem nee rcdirurus erat: Nunc tmtat dexcra vcrfatus Apicius^omni Vrbem habec:6C tedum qui pen'grinus erat : Acceptum mottc noftro debebis:8Cipfi Immortalis ericgratia:laus & honor: Per quern non licuic celcbri carui fife nepote: Per quern dehinc fugiec lingua latina ficura. Imprcilum Mediolani per magiftrum Guilermum Signcrre Rothomagenfera Anno dni . Mcccclxxxx vtu.dicxx.menfis laouarii. 7 Glasse in folio, when always afterwards she appears in less ambitious octavo, — to name but the most widely known of all. These are not prizes to be dismissed lightly. My pride compels me to add (in parenthesis, as it were, for I had not meant to write about it here) that I own not only the Mrs. Glasse, but the Ccelius Apicius. It is, in the 1498 edition, a beautiful book, printed m the Roman type "William Morris approved and copied for the Kehnscott Press, the page harmoniously spaced, with noble margins, a place left at the beginning of divisions for the illuminator's capitals, and the paper tenderly toned with age. My copy is in surprisingly good condition, — not a tear or a stain anywhere. It has an interesting pedigree. Dr. BlacMe's autograph and the bookplate of Dr. Klotz, the German collector, are on the fly-leaf. But it has no title-page ! How- ever, even in its mutilated state it is rare, and, though I cannot read it, — I went to school before the days of the higher education for women, and to a convent, so that all the Latin I learnt was the Ave and the Pater, the Credo and the Confiteor, — I look upon it as the corner stone of my collection. 8 Still, I am not like Dibdin's Philemon, and I like to read my books. It is another of the good qualities of the cookery book that when you can read it, it makes the best reading in the world. For this pleasure I must come to my shelf of the seventeenth-century English books; mostly small duodecimos in shabby battered calf, one in shabbier battered velliun, their pages browned and stained with constant use. It must not be thought that my collection leaps in this disjointed fashion from century to century. Some very rare and quaint six- teenth-century Italian books are the link between these duodecimos and the Apicius; but to interpret them I need a dictionary at my elbow. Besides, they have been well cared for by the bibliographer, and I want to show first, what has not been shown before, how delightful the old cookery book is as a book to read, not merely to catalogue or to keep handy on the kitchen dresser. I pass over also the printed copies of early poems and works, preserved in famous historical manuscripts, and edited in the last century by Dr. Pegge and other scholars, in our day chiefly by Dr. Purnivall and the Early English Text Society. Though I consider them as indispensable as Apicius, and though I own the 9 Forme of Cury and the Liber Cure Cocorum and the Noble Book of Cookery, and the rest, they are to be classed with Charles Lamb's books that are not books, so difficult are they to all but the expert. Unfortu- nately, I have none of the sixteenth-century English books, of which HazUtt gives a Ket of eight. Perhaps they were issued in very small editions j more proba- bly, they were so popular that, like the early romances from Caxton's and from Wynkyn de "Worde's press, they were "thumbed out of existence." After 1600 the supply seems to have been larger, no doubt because of the growing demand, and more copies have survived. Most of the cookery books of the seventeenth century went through several editions; not even Cromwell and the Puritans could check their popularity; and I Hke to think, when I turn over their thin, soiled, torn pages, that many people read them not solely for information, but for pleasure, hke Pepys, that fine summer day when, his wife safe in the country, he carried his ladies to the king's pleasure boat, and then down the river, between the great wharves and the shipping, " aE the way read- ing in a book of Receipts of making fine meats and sweetmeats . . . which made us good sport." 10 For Pepys, to whom, as Stevenson puts it, the whole world was a Garden of Armida, "infinite delight" lurked as naturally in a recipe as in his first periwig, or the nightingales at Yauxhall, or a lesson in arithmetic, or whatever else it might be. For us, of less buoyant temperament, if there be infinite delight, it is due, above all, to the magic of the past and the charm of associ- ation. StateUness and elegance were the order of the day in the seventeenth century. The men, who ar- rayed themselves in gorgeous clothes, spoke la the rotmded periods that were in keeping, — in the " bro- caded language" of Mr. Gosse's expressive phrase. And the cookery books are full of this brocaded lan- guage, full of extravagant conceits, full of artificial ornament; a lover writing to his mistress, you would say, rather than a cook or a housewife giving practical directions. After the modern recipe, blunt to the point of brutality; after the "Take so much of this, add so much of that, and boil, roast, fry," as the dull case may be, each fresh extravagance, each fresh affectation, is as enchanting as the crook of Lely's ladies or the Silvio of Herrick's verse. I should not want to try the re- cipes, so appalling often is the combination of savories 11 and sweets, so colossal the proportions. But they were written by artists who had as pretty a talent for turning a phrase as for inventing a new dish. Rose leaves and saffron, musk and " amber-greece," orange flower and angelica, are scattered through them, until it seems as if the feast could have been spread only for PhiUis or Anthea. And no water can be poured into their pots that is not " fair," few blossoms chosen as ingredients that are not "pleasing." Cakes are "pretty conceits," and are garnished " according to art." If cider leaves its dregs, these are " naughty," and a sweet is recom- mended because it " comf orteth the Stomach and Heart." The names of the dishes are a joy : the tanzies of vio- lets or cowshps, and the orangado phraises; the sylla- bubs and the frumenties, — " all-tempting Frumenty; " the wiggs and the pasties; the eggs in moonshine; the conserves of red roses ; the possets without end, almost as lyrical as the poet's, made "With cream of lilies, not of kine. And maiden's blush for spiced wine." And the drinks: metheglin, — do we not know to the day the date of Pepys' first "brave cup" of it? — m meath, hydromel, hypocras, — a word that carries one to the GuildhaU buttery, a certain Lord Mayor's Day, where Pepys is gayly tippUng; hypocras "being to the best of my present judgment only a mixed compound drink, and not any wine," which he had forsworn by solemn vow. " If I am mistaken, God forgive me ! but I hope and do think I am not." Who would not share Pepys' easy conscience? Hypocras was "only," Dr. Twin's way, a strong compound of spice and herbs and sugar steeped for days in a gallon of good Khenish wine; in very good claret wine, Giles Eose's way. All the cookery books of the century are written in this brocaded language, all reveal the same pleasant fancy, all contain the same pretty dishes and strange drinks. But still, they have their differences that divide them ' into three distinct classes. Many are simply the old fam- ily manuscript collection of recipes, at that period com- mon in every household of importance, put into print; to a few the master cook gives the authority of his name and experience; while there are others in which cook- ery is but one of several arts " exposed " by the accom- plished women, to whom curing leprosy was as simple as cooking a dinner, killing rats as ordinary a pastime as IS making wax flowers, and who had altogether attained a degree of omniscience that the modern contributor to a ladies' paper might well envy. The old manuscript collection of recipes has that touch of romance we feel in a bit of half -worn embroidery or a faded sampler. The fragrance of rosemary and thyme lingers about its leaves. It is full of memories of the stilh'oom and the cool, spacious pantry. I have two or three, bought before I reahzed into what depths of bank- ruptcy I should plunge if I added manuscripts to my printed books. I have seen many others. In all, the tone and quality of the paper would make the etcher sigh for the waste, while the handwriting — sometimes prim, sometimes distinguished, sometimes sprawhng — represents generations of careful housewives. The col- lection, evidently, has grown at hap-hazard: the new dish eaten at a neighbor's, jotted down before its secret is forgotten; the new recipe brought by a friend, en- tered while she is still by to answer for its accuracy. The style is easy and confidential; it abounds in little asides and parentheses; and always credit is given where credit is due ! This, you are assured, is " Lady Dorchester's cake " or " Lady Pitzharding's nun's bis- u ket; " these are " Lady Kent's brown Almonds " or " Lady Compton's preserved Barf ord pipins ; " and you must not mistake for any other " Mrs. Oldfield's lemon cream " or " Mrs. Brereton's colours for marble cake." Now and then, as if to lend a professional air, a famous chef is cited, — Bartolomeo Scappi or Robert May, — but this is seldom. And as a housekeeper, in those days, had to know how to relieve an indigestion as well as how to make the dish that caused it; as she was, in a word, the family or village doctor, medical prescriptions are mingled with the recipes. As like as not, a cake or cream is wedged between " Aqua Mirabilis, Sir Kellam Digby's way," and "A most excellent Water for ye Stone; " or an " Arrangement of Cucumbers" separates Dr. Graves's " Receipt for Convulsion Fitts " from " A Plague Water." In the printed books of the seventeenth century there is an attempt at classification. " Incomparable Secrets in Physick and Chirurgery," if revealed, form a section apart; but in other respects those I have put in the first class share the characteristics of the manuscripts. Their titles at once point to their origin. Almost all are Closets or Cabinets opened. There are exceptions. I have a THE COMPLEAT COOK. Expertly prefcribing the moft ready waycs, ritahan^ WhethcrX5/>d»i]J&j cor French, For dreffing o£F/e/7;',and Fifh^ Ordennsof Sauces^ ormaking- O F PASTRY. Louv om Printed (or Nath. Brook at the] An^el'mCortt-hill^ 1655. 15 fascinating Compleat Cook, a tiny volume, neatly bound in calf, "expertly prescribing the most ready wayes, whe- ther Itahan, Spanish, or French, For dressing of Flesh and Fish, Ordering of Sauces, or making of Pastry," which was printed for Nathaniel Brook, the great pub- hsher of cookery books, at the Angel in Cornhill, 1655. I have also two Dehghts : one " printed by R. Y. and are to bee sold by James Boler 1632," with a sadly defaced title-page, upon which little is legible save the sage advice, " Reade, practise, and Censure ; " and another of 1683, " printed for Obadiah Blagrave at the Sign of the black Bear in St. Pauls Churchyard." I have also a Pearl of Practice, and Hartman's True Preserver and Restorer of Health. But Closet or Cabmet is the more frequent title. When the name of the author does not appear, it is usually the Queen's Delight of which there is question, the Queen's Closet or Cabinet which is opened. In my first edition of The Queen's Closet Opened, pub- hshed by the same pubhsher, ISTathaniel Brook, and ia the same year, 1655, as The Compleat Cook, the title-page states that these are the Incomparable Secrets " as they were presented to the Queen by the most Experienced Persons of our times, many whereof were honoured with 16 her own practice, when she pleased to descend to these most private Kecreations ; " and that they were " Tran- scribed from the true Copies of her Majesties own Re- ceipt Books, by W. M. one of her late servants." In my later edition of 1668, a portrait of Henrietta Maria, — most hkely a copy from Hollar, — severe in feature and drees, faces the title-page, much to my satisfaction; for, if the book turns up every now and then in booksellers' catalogues, mine is the only copy in which I have yet seen the portrait. When the name of the author does appear, it is usually one of great distinction. There is a " Ladies Cabinet Opened by the Rt Hon. and Learned Chymist, Lord Ruthven, containing Many Rare Secrets and Rich Ornaments of several kindes and different Uses." My copy, published in 1655, by Bedell and Col- lins, at the Middle Temple Gate, Fleet Street, is, alas, a second edition; 1639 is the year of the first. But the second has the advantage of containing the most gallant of prefaces. " Courteous Ladies," it begins ; and it ends, " I shall thus leave you at Hberty as Lovers in Gardens, to follow your own fancies. Take what you like, and de- light in your choice, and leave what you hst to him whose labour is not lost if anything please." Another Closet, QiaEENs" CLOSET I OPENED- Incomparable Secrets in Thyfick^ Cbimrgery, Tre- ftrving^ Candying^ and Ceokerj 5 As they were prefcnted to the QJU EE D^ By them oft Experienced Pcrfons of our times, many whereof were honoa. red Wfirh her own prafticc, when (he pleafed Co defcend to ihefe more private Recreations. Never before fuhltj^ed. Tranfcribcd from the true Copies of her MAJESTIES own Receipt- Books, by w.M. one of her late I'crvants. Fivitfo^funer* iHrtw,- Printed for 7^thaniel Breok^ at the Attget Ii'rintea ror jxjthantei ttroon^ a in Cernhill, 1653;. 17 "Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Cherry- Wine, etc., together with Excellent Directions for Cookery," was opened by no less a person than Sir Kenelm Digby, whose " name does suflSciently auspicate the Work," as his son, who published it, writes in an inimitable preface. As he appears in Yandyck's portrait. Sir Kenelm Digby is so very elegant with his shining armor, so very intellectual with his broad expanse of forehead, that one would as soon expect to hear of Lord Sahsbury or Mr. Balfour writing a cookery book. His Closet has no place in Vicaire's BibUography, nor in HazHtt's; I have often wondered why; for, of all, it is my favorite. I agree with his delightful son that it " needs no Rhetorical Floscules to set it off," so pleasant is the thought of this " arrant mountebank," as Evelyn called him, — this " romantic giant," as later kinder crit- ics have it, — in the intervals between his duties as chan- cellor to the queen mother, and his intrigues for the Church, and his adventures as Theagenes, and his studies as astrologer, and his practice as amateur physician, sit- ting quietly at his desk writing out his recipes, as care- fully as any master cook or scrupulous housewife. IS'ot only are these Closets and Cabinets and Dehghts as 18 sweet with rosemary and thyme and musk as the manu- scripts; they are as exact in referring every dish to its proper authority, they retain the tone of intimacy, they abound in personal confidences. " My Lady Middlesex makes Syllabubs for little glasses with spouts, thus," you read in one collection; in another, " My Lady Glin useth her Yenison Pasties" in such and such a fashion; in a third, that "this is the way the Countess de Penalva makes Portuguez eggs for the Queen." The adjectives have the value of a personal recommendation : " The most kindley way to preserve plums, cherries, and goose- berries;" "A most Excellent Sirup of Violets both in taste and tincture; " " A singular Manner of making the Sirup of Roses ; " " another sort of Marmalade very com- fortable for any Lord or Lady Whatsoever; " " An ex- cellent conceit upon the kernels of dry Walnuts." The medicines receive equal tenderness : "An exceeding fine Pill used for the Gout; " " a delicate Stove to sweat in; " " The Gift of God, praise be to Him, for all manners of sores; " "A Precious Water to Revive the Spirits." Who would not swallow a dozen such pills and gifts and wa- ters, or sweat a dozen times in such a stove, without a murmur ! But it is the confidential manner that I adore. 19 The compiler of the little vellum-bound Delight is for- ever taking you into his confidence. He revels in hints and innuendoes: "There is a Country Gentlewoman whom I could name, which" does so and soj or " This of a Kinde Gentlewoman whose skill I doe highly commend and whose case I do greatly pity ; " and you divine all sorts of social mysteries. He has sudden outbursts of generosity : " I have robbed my wives Dairy of this se- cret, who hath hitherto refused all recompenses that have been offered her by gentlewomen for the same, and had I loved a Cheese myself so well as I like the receipt, I think I could not so easily have imparted the same at this time. And yet, I must needs confesse, that for the better gracing of the Title, wherewith I have fronted this pamphlet, I have been willing to publish this with some other secrets of worth, for the which I have been many times refused good store both of crowns and angels. And therefore let no Gentlewoman think this Booke too deare, at what price soever it shall be valued upon the sale thereof, neither can I esteem the worke to be of lesse than twenty years gatherings." And people think the art of self-advertisement was evolved but yesterday 1 Sir Ken- ehn Digby is the great master of this confidential style. 20 If he gives my Lady Hungerford's meath, he must ex- plain that she sent him special word that "She now useth (and liketh better) a second Decoction of Herbs," which he also conscientiously records. If he recommends a sec- ond meath, it is because a certain chief burgomaster of Antwerp, for many years, drank it, and nothing else, " at meals and all times, even for pledging of Healths. And though he was of an extraordinary vigour every way, and had every year a child, had always a great appetite and good digestion, and yet was not fat." He is at pains to assure you that though Mr. Webbe, probably a master cook, did use to put in a few cloves and mace in the king's meath, "the King did not care for them; " that the " Hy- dromel, as I made it weak for the Queen Mother was exceedingly liked by everybody; " that Sir Edward Bain- ton's metheglin, " My Lord of Portland (who gave it me) saith was the best he ever drank;" that for his strange dish of tea and eggs, Mr. Waller's advice is that " the wa- ter is to remain upon the tea no longer than while you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely." I sometimes think, if I were in need of bedside books, — which I am thankful to say I am not, — I should give my choice, not to Montaigne and Howell with Thackeray, but to Sir Ken- 21 elm Digby and the other openers of the old Closets and Cabinets.^ The success of these books may have helped to drive the English cook into authorship. The artist has not always the patience to be silent while the amateur dogmatizes upon his art. There is a suggestion of revolt in the pre- face Eobert May, the " Accomplisht Cook," addressed to his fellow practitioners. " I acknowledge," he says, " that there hath already been several Books publisht . . . for aught I could perceive to httle purpose, empty and unprofitable Treatises, of as little use as some Nig- gards Kitchen, which the Reader, in respect of the con- fusion of the Method, or barrenness of those Authours Experience, hath rather been puzzled, than profited by." Mock humility has never been the characteristic of the cook. He has always respected himself as the pivot of civilization. Other men, at times, have shared this re- spect with him. The Greeks crowned him with gold and ^ I am not sure that I would not add Gervase Markham's Eng- lish Housewife (1631) and Dr. Muffett's Healths Improvement (1655). Markham is, perhaps, the prettiest and most graceful of all these writers. But both books have come into my collection only recently, since this chapter was written. 22 flowers. He went clothed in velvet, wearing a gold chain, in Wolsey's day. And in between, during the Eoman rule, during ages of dark and mediaeval barbarity, the ceremonial of dinner and its serving testified that the light of truth still glimmered, if dimly. But none ever understood so well as he the full dignity of his profession. " A modest Master Cook must be looked on as a contra- diction in Nature," was a doctrine in the classical kitchen. By the middle of the seventeenth century Vatel ruled in France, and in England every distinguished chef was ready to swear, with Ben Jonson's Master-Cook in the Masque, that " A boiler, range, and dresser were the fountains Of all the knowledge in the universe ; " that the school of cookery, that " deep School," is " Both the nurse and mother of the Arts." Imagine his dismay, then, when the amateur began to masquerade before the world as artist. Had Sir Kenelm Digby ever turned out as much as a posset or a syllabub, could Lord Euthven, the learned, make a peacock to look like a porcupine, or an entremose of a swan, that either should strut his little day as an authority ? Only the artist has the right to speak on his art. And as Leo- 2S nardo had written his treatises, as Keynolds was later to dehver his discourses, so Eobert May, Will Eabisha, Giles Rose, and others, perhaps, whom I have not in my collection, began to publish books upon cookery. Jeal- ousy of the Frenchman may have been an additional in- centive. France had already the reputation for delicate dining which she has never lost, and the noble lord or lady who patronized the young apprentice sent him for his training across the Channel. May and Rabisha had both served their term in French households. But it was another matter when the French chef's book was trans- lated into Enghsh, and threatened to rob the Enghsh cook of his glory at home. May's preface is full of sneers at the " Epigram Dishes " with which the French "have bewitched some of the Gallants of our Nation^ Whatever the cook's motive in writing, he gave his book a character all its own. The actual dishes and drinks may be those of Closets and Cabinets, but the tone of intimacy disappears from the recipe; no name but the author's vouches for the merits of a dish; the writer is no longer on a level of equality with his readers, but addresses them from a higher plane, the plane of know- ledge. There is no mistaking the air of authority. Offi- 24 cers of the Mouth receive their inetnictions, and irre- sistible httle cuts of birds of strange shape, and Joints of no shape at all, devices for pies and pastry, are intro- duced as a giiide to the Carver and Sewer. JS'othing is neglected, from the building up of those magnificent — the adjective is May's — triumphs and trophies, those subtleties, as elaborate as Inigo Jones's setting of a masque, that were " the delights of the Nobility," to the folding of " all sorts of Table-linen in all sorts of Fig- ures, a neat and gentill Art," much in vogue. And throughout, the writer never forgets his own impor- tance. He is as serious as Montaigne's Italian chef, who talked of cooMng with the gravity of the theologian and in the language of the statesman. His style is as fan- tastic as that of the cook in HoweU's letter to Lady Cot- tington. He "will teU your Ladyship," Howell writes, " that the reverend Matron, the Olla podrida hath Litel- lectiTals and Senses; Mutton, Beef, and Bacon are to her as the Will, Understanding, and Memory are to the Soul; Cabbages, Turnips, Artichokes, Potatoes, and Dates are her five Senses, and Pepper the Common-sense; she must have Marrow to keep Life in her, and some Birds to make her light; by all means she must go adorned with Chains of Sausages." 25 The very title of the cook's treatise was a marvel of bom- bast. Eobert May's — the book was first pubhshed in 1660, by Il^athaniel Brook — must be given in full : " The Accomplisht Cook, or the Art and Mystery of Cookery. "Wherein the whole Art is revealed ra a more easie and perfect Method, than hath been pubhsht in any Lan- guage. Expert and ready wayes for the Dressing of aU sorts of Flesh, Fowl and Fish : The Raising of Pastes ; the best Directions for aE manner of Kickshaws, and the most Poinant Sauces; with the Tearms of Carving and Sewing. An exact Account of aU Dishes for the Season; with other A la mode Curiosities. Together with the lively Illustrations of such necessary Figures as are referred to Practice. Approved by the Fifty Years Experience and Industry of Robert May, ia his Attend- ance on several Persons of Honour." Let me quote just one other, for though it is as long, it is also as irresistible. The book is WiU Rabisha's ; the date, 1673 ; the publisher, E. Calvert at the sign of the Black Spread Eagle at the West End of St. Paul's; and the title: " The whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught, and fully mani- fested. Methodically, Artificially, and according to the best Tradition of the English, French, Italian, Dutch 26 etc. Or, a Sympathy of all varieties in Natural Com- pounds in that Mysterie. "Wherein is contained certain Bills of Fare for the Seasons of the year, for Feasts and Common Diets. Wherunto is annexed a Second Part of Eare Eeceipts of Cookery: with certain useful Traditions. With a book of Preserving, Conserving and Candying, after the most Exquisite and jS'ewest manner: Delectable for Ladies and Gentlewomen." A title, this, that recalls Dorothy Osborne's coxcombs who " labour to find out terms that may obscure a plain sense." The note may be pitched high, but not too high for the grandiloquent flights that follow. Dedications, prefaces, introductory poems, are in harmony, and as ornate with capitals and italics as the dishes are with spices and sweets. The Accomplisht Cook is further " embellished " with May's portrait : a large, portly person, with heavy face, but determined mouth, wearing his own hair, though I hope he lived long enough to take, hke Pepys, to a periwig, so weU would it have become him. Below the portrait, verses, engraved on the plate, declare with poetic confusion that, " Would'st thou view but in one face. All hospitalitie, the race riFFWi ^y'^Vjiat'^ v'oiiUyt tha uuf.r hut in onefuce all hiyriti/iliiie tlw nne , ,£ftw/c' that Jor tlw G try to stand, wnn-se t/ihlcs -^ wiiole ^Arh comand ofy{uiureii^Lntu: vjould.rt tnoli fit , : \ ttiu Jig ht, vcrufe Ma ij.s; bM h'^^hrjict^;^ f 27 Of those that for the Gusto stand, Whose tables a whole Ark comand Of Nature's plentie, would'st thou see This sight, peruse May's booke,'t is hee." A few pages further on there is another panegyric in verse, " on the unparallel'd Piece of Mr. May, his Cook- ery," and an appeal " to the Reader of (my very loving Friend) Mr. Robert May, his incomparable Book of Cookery," by an admirer who thinks only the pen " Of famous Cleaveland or renowned Ben, If unintooni'd might give this Book its due." Win Rabisha has but one poet to sing his praise ; he, however, does it thoroughly : — " Brave Book, into the world begone. Thou vindicatest thy Authour fearing none. That ever was, or is, or e're shall be Able to find the parallel of thee." The dedications are obsequious for such great men, but obsequiousness in dedications was the fashion of the day. May's book is dedicated not alone to Sir Kenelm Digby, but to Lord Lumley, Lord Lovelace, Sir Wilham Paston, Sir Frederick Comwallis, all of whom, with the exception 28 of Lord Lovelace, contributed to Sir Kenelm Digby's collection of recipes. " The Maecenas's and Patrons of this Generous Art," May calls them, in a rhetorical out- burst. Eabisha, on the other hand, pays his tribute to two " illustrious duchesses," and three " renowned, sin- gular good, and vertuous Ladies," to whose " boundless unspeakable virtues " he would do the honor that in him lies. May was the "most humbly devoted servant to their Lordships," and Eabisha the " poor, unworthy ser- vant till death " of their graces and ladyships. But this was mere posing. The real man in May comes out when he addresses as "Most "Worthy Artists" the master cooks and young practitioners to whom he hopes his book will be useful; when he explains that he writes because "God and my own Conscience would not permit me to bury these my Experiences with my Silver Hairs in the Grave." No one shall say of him that he " hid his Candle under a Bushel." It is the real Eabisha who dwells upon the " Many years study and practice in the Art and Mysterie of Cookery " that are his qualifications as author, and the duty of " the ingenious men of all Arts and Sciences to hold forth to Posterity what light or knowledge " they understand to be obscure in their art. 29 The same spirit betrays itseK here and there in the re- cipes. "The fruits and flowers that you make white must be kept in a dry place," writes Giles Rose, or his translator, " if you will keep them for your credit and honoui'." For your credit and honor ! There spoke the artist. Or again, for the whipping of cream, your whisk " ought to be made of the fine small twigs of Birch, or such like wood neatly peeled, and tied up in quantity a little bigger than your thmnb, and the smaU ends must be cut off a little, for fear of breaking in your cream, and so you come to be made ashamed." That is the kind of thing, as Stevenson says, that reconciles one to Hf e ! The flamboyant recipes, the monumental menus, are amusing; but what I love best in my cookery books is the " vanity of the artist " that is their inspiration. It was the vanity of the superior woman that inspired Mrs. Hannah Woolley, now forgotten by an ungrateful world. In 1670 she published The Queen-Like Closet or Rich Cabinet, with a Supplement added in 1674, that eclipsed all the Treasuries and Guides and Practices for Ladies that had already appeared, as it excels those that, later on, were to take it ae model. It is the only seventeenth-century book of the kind in my collection; 30 but were the others on the shelf with it, I should still turn to Mrs. "Woolley as the perfect type of the Univer- sal Provider of her age and generation. She was sim- ply amazing, as no one knew better than herseK. Like Eobert May, she did not beheve in hiding her candle under a bushel; but where May wrote for the greater honor of his art, she wrote for the greater honor of her- self. Even had she pined for the peace of obscurity, — which she did not, — her remarkable talents had made her conspicuous since childhood. Before she was fifteen she had been the mistress of a little school, — she teUs the tale herself, — where she continued till the age of seventeen, " when my extraordinary parts appeared more splendid in the eyes of a noble lady in this Kingdom than really they deserved, and she greedily entertained me in her house as Governess of her only Daughter." Then, at -the death of the first lady, this prodigy was as greed- ily appropriated by a second, and presently " gained so great an esteem among the Nobility and Gentry of two Counties, that I was necessitated to yield to the impor- tunity of one I dearly lov'd, that I might free myself from the tedious caresses of many more." As, before she had done with fife, she had been married to "two 81 Worthy Eminent and brave Persons," it is uncertain whether the first or the second " dearly loved " was Mr. Richard WooUey, " Master of Arts and Reader at St. Martin, Ludgate." The one thing certain is that it was from his house, in the Old Bailey in Golden Cup Court, she addressed the female sex, to whom her books — she wrote three in all — were to be a guide " in all Relations, Companies, Conditions, and States of Life, even from Childhood down to Old Age ; and from the Lady at the Court to the Cook-maid in the Country." There is a por- trait of her in one of the books : a large, pompous wo- man, with heavy bimches of curls on either side her face, in a low velvet gown and pearls, who looks fit to tackle anything. And indeed, it must be said of her that she never shrank from duty. She even stooped to poetry, since it was the fashion to introduce it in the beginning of all such books, and her rhymes are surprisingly frivo- lous and jingling for so severe a lady. " I shall now give you," is her introduction to the Supplement, which she rightly calls A Little of Every Thing, — "I shall now give you some Directions for Washing Black and White Sarsnet, or Coloured Silhs ; Washing of Points, Laces, or the like ; starching of Tiffanies, making clean Plate, 82 cleaning of Gold and Silver Lace, washing Silk Stock- ings, adorning of Closets with several pretty Fancies; things excellent to keep the Sands "White and Face and Fyes clear; how to make Transparent Work, and the Colours thereto belonging; also Puff Work; some more Eeceipts for Preserving and cookery; some Remedies for such Ailments as are incident to all People ; as Corns, Sore JEyes, Cut Fingers, Bruises, Bleeding at Nose ; all these you may help by my directions, with a small mat- ter of cost ; whereas else you may be at a great charge and long Trouble, and perhaps endanger your Eyes or Limbs. I shall give you none but such things as I have had many years experience of with good success, I praise God." Nor does this exhaust her resources. She offers, for " a reasonable Gratuity," to find good places for servants who will call upon her at Golden Cup Court. She is as full of stories of the astounding cures she has wrought as the manufacturer of a patent pill. She writes letters to serve as models, so many does she meet with that she could tear as she reads, " they are so full of impertiaency and so tedious." She has advice for parents and children which " may prevent much wickedness for the future." 88 She teaches waxwork. On one page she is dressing the hearth for summer time ; on the next playing the art master, for she has seen " such ridiculous things done as is an abomination to an Artist to behold." As for ex- ample : " You may find in some Pieces, Abraham and Sarah, and many other Persons of Old Time, cloathed as they go now adaies, and truly sometimes worse." And that the female sex — and, as we know from the exam- ples of Mrs. Pepys and Pegg Penn, the female sex was then busy painting — may not fall into similar error, she informs them of both the visage and habit of the heroes they, in their modesty, will be most apt to paint. Thus, " If you work Jupiter, the Imperial feigned God, He must have long Black-Cm-led hair, a Purple Garment trimmed with Gold, and sitting upon a Golden Throne, with bright yellow Clouds about him ; " or, if it be Hymen, the God of Marriage, you must work him "with long YeUow Hair in a Purple or Saffron-Coloured Mantle." There was nothing this ornament to her sex was afraid to teach. To judge from the condition of my copy of The Queen- Like Closet, she was not unappreciated. The title-page has gone ; the dog's-ears and stains and tatters might make one weep, were they not such an admirable testi- 84. monial. In 1678 it was presented to Mary Halfpenny by " Brother John Halfpeimy when he was at Trinity College," and the fly-leaves are covered with her own recipes for syllabubs and gooseberry wine, for orange pudding and "plane" cake; and there is on one page a valuable note from her, to the effect that the time of mushrooms is about the middle of September. Later, at some imknown date, the book became the property of Anna Warden ; and about the middle of the next century it answered the purpose of family Bible to the Keeling family, so that I know to the hour when Thomas and Eebecca, children of James and Rebecca, were bom, — destined to grow up and prosper, I hope, imder the large and benevolent guidance of Hannah Woolley. I have never had the luck of the French collector who picked up Rousseau's copy of the Imitation of Christ, with the famous periwinkle from Les Charmettes pressed between the pages. But I prize even these modest names and notes on a fly-leaf or a margin ; for me, they add a dis- tinctly personal charm to the shabby little old cookery book. Personal charm enough it has in itself, you might say, when it belongs to the seventeenth century. The eigh- 85 teenth-centmy books are not without fascination and character, but they have lost something of the fresh- ness, the naivete, the exuberance, of youth ; the style is more sophisticated; the personality of the author is kept more in the background. May and Eabisha, Giles Rose and Hannah Woolley, are so entertaining in their self- revelations, they teU us so much of their age, besides the manner of its cookery, that the wonder is they should be cheerfully ignored, now that Howell and Evelyn and Pepys are household names. N. II EXT to eating good dinners, a healthy man with a benevolent turn of mind must like, I think, to read about them." The words are Thackeray's, and they en- courage me, if I need encouragement, in my behef that to go on writing about my Cookery Books is a duty I owe not only to myself, but to the world. If I have owned to a sneaking preference for the httle calf and vellvim covered duodecimos of the seventeenth century, courteous and gallant as the Stuart days to which they belong, I should lose no time in adding that it is to the eighteenth century I am indebted for the great treasure of my collection, — Mrs. Glasse in the famous " pot folio " of the first edition. The copy belonged, as I have explained, to George Augustus Sala, and came up for sale when his library was disposed of at Sotheby's in the July of 1896. This hbrary was a disappouitment to most people, — to none more than to me. I had heard much of Sala's cookery books, but small as my collec- tion then was I found only three that I had not already. Bartolomeo Scappi's Cuoco Secreto, in fine binding, but 37 not in the first edition (which I secured a year or two after) ; The Delmonico Cook Book, and excellent it is ; and Mrs. Glasee, — The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy; Which far exceeds any Thing of the Kind ever yet Published, to give her book its full title. In the preliminary paragraphs that went the round of the press, Mrs. Glasse alone received the honor of special men- tion; in that dingy httle salesroom in WeUington Street, where, however high passions — and prices — may run, the group at the table seem to have come together for nothing more exciting than a sociable nap, Mrs. Glasse again held the place of honor in a glass case apart. Everything pointed to a struggle. It would take a braver woman than I to face the " knock-outs " and " rings " before which the private buyer is said to be as a lamb led to the slaughter. When the day of the sale came, like royalty at important functions, I was " repre- sented " at Sotheby's, and myself stayed at home with my emotions. The sequel is known. Is not the book on my shelves ? It came that same evening, the two others with it. " I am pleased," wrote my representative, " to be able to send you the three books, and all below your 38 limit, and hope you will be satisfied." Satisfied ? "Was there ever a wonian yet to whom a bargain was not half the joy of possession ? Sala, it was currently reported, valued the book at five hundred dollars ; I paid but fifty. It was not because he overestimated its rarity. The first edition is almost as rare as he thought. On the fly-leaf of his copy he wrote, July, 1876, that only three others were known to be ia existence : one at the British Museum, a second at the Bodleian, and a third in the library of a country clergyman. Since then only two others, to my know- ledge, have materialized. But Sala was a vandal ; his copy was evidently in a shocking state when he found it, in a barrow in a South London slum according to the legend, and he had the battered and torn pages mended, and the book bound in substantial and expensive, if in- appropriate binding. So far, so good. Still he also had it interleaved. He seems to have believed that his own trivial newspaper correspondence on the subject, care- fully pasted in, would increase its value. How often have I looked at the book and decided, at whatever cost, to get rid of the interleaving and the newspaper cKppings, an insult alike to Mrs. Glasse and myself ! How often 39 have I decided that to reduce it to its original elim- ness would be to destroy its pedigree ; not a very distin- guished pedigree, but still the copy was known m the auction room as Sala's, and, therefore, as Sala's must it not remain ? Whoever can settle this problem for me will lift a burden of responsibility from shoulders not strong enough to bear it. Now I have the first edition, I do not mind admitting that no other treatise on cookery owes its reputation so httle to merit, so much to chance. It was popular in its own day, I grant you. The Biographical Diction- ary says that, except the Bible, it had the greatest sale in the language. It went into edition after edition. There are ten in the British Musemn. I own six myself, though I vowed that the first sufficed for my wants. The book was repubUshed in Edinburgh. It was revived as late as 1852, perhaps later still, for all I as yet know. But almost aU the eighteenth-century books shared its popularity, — only the Biographical Dictionary has not happened to hear of them. I have The Compleat Housewife, by E. Smith, in the eighteenth edition ; I have Elizabeth Moxon's English Housewife, in the thir- teenth ; I have John Farley's London Art of Cookery, 40 in the eleventh, and I might go on through a list of titles and authors long forgotten by every one but me. All are as amusing now as the Art of Cookery, and were probably very useful in their day. The receipts are much the same ; indeed, the diligence with which the authorities upon cookery in the eighteenth century borrowed one from the other, without a word of acknow- ledgment, ought to have kept the law courts busy, l^or does the manner vary more than the matter. Of most of the books the authors could say as truthfully as Mrs. Glasse of hers, that they were " not wrote in the high polite stile." Kot even her sex gives Mrs. Glasse dis- tinction in an age when authorship or public practice of any sort was indelicate in a female. Mary Eale, E. Smith, Ehzabeth Eaff aid, — a charming person in a mob cap, if you can trust her portrait, — Charlotte Mason, Elizabeth Cleland, Martha Bradley, were a few of her many rivals. And where are they now ? " Where 's Hipparchia, and where is Thais ? " If Mrs. Glasse alone survives, it is for one reason only, and that the most unreasonable. Her fame is due not to her genius, for she really had none, but to the fact that her own generation beheved there was " no sich a person," 41 and after generations believed in her as the author of a phrase she never wrote. And, indeed, no one would remember even the doubt at the time thrown upon her identity, but for BosweU. I know Cumberland also is an authority for the report that Dr, Hill wrote the book. HiE, he says, was " a needy author who could not make a dinner out of the press till, by a happy transforma- tion into Hannah Glasse, he turned himself into a cook and sold receipts for made dishes to all the savoury readers in the kingdom. Then, indeed, the press ac- knowledged him second in fame only to John Bunyan; his feasts kept pace in sale with Kelson's Fasts, and when his own name was fairly written out of credit, he wrote himself into immortality under an alias." But no- body nowadays reads Cumberland's Memoirs, and every- body reads BosweU, — or pretends to. The subject came up at Mr. Dilly's dinner-table. "Mrs. Glasse's Cookery, which is the best, was written by Dr. Hill. Half the trade knows this," said Mr. Dilly, who, being in the trade him- self, ought to have been an authority. But Dr. Johnson was of another opinion: "Women can spin very well, but they cannot make a good book of cookery." Mrs. Glasse's is not a good book, mistakes occurring in it; 42 therefore, Dr. Hill, a man, could not have written it. I agree with Dr. Johnson's conclusions, but on far simpler grounds. The impersonation of Mrs. Glasse would, in the end, have become too elaborate a joke to carry through, had Dr. Hill been as ingenious and as wanting in ve- racity as in Dr. Johnson's description of him to George III. The first edition of the Art of Cookery — the foho, sold at Mrs. Ashburn's China Shop, comer of Fleet Ditch, and at Mrs. Wharton's, at the Blue Coat Boy, near the Royal Exchange — was published anonymously in 1747. " By a Lady " is printed on the title-page. Only later editions, the octavo, sold by inmmierable booksellers. Dr. Johnson's friend Mr. MiEar among them, appear with the name H. Glasse on the title-page and above the first chapter. To invent the name would have been no great tax on the imagination. But, by the fourth edition. Dr. Hill would have had to invent a trade as well. For in this edition, and in this one only, an im- pressive engraved frontispiece describes Hannah Glasse — and if the description is long, it is too inimitable not to be quoted in full — as " Habit-Maker, to Her Eoyal Highness the Princess of Wales, in Tavistock Street Covent Garden. Makes & Sells all Sorts of Riding f^ 5-^' t^ ^^ ^ 1 . - .r^ ' ^- \^:^Mni-^ruxlliT/-''^ ':■"•-. •''/^'-'■■' -' ^-.J-Z/.i ,(//. ^"r/^,'/- //'/■////,)'. //,?/■,''/:!,. A\ir/tA-.K ■■. /-VV/."' f>-''/'\-''/r'>\k^^/r//A(r,t/,<-/i'///.i/,if^-. ///,',//,'.'////"'/«■/•,■.', ..^.^^ MjJrr tJlP5)C.'tMt lilillMC!- ^f }/:■// /■/ -rfr/'-j/i.!/. ■///-///, //jf.i. \^f !•///.>,, //<^, I /ni /■,:;_, //n//a?l -■iJISovts oi'.Friii a^frGni dio^f.ik'crs §■:- • Lik»"\' Ji'e a]j SGrS;s oflVL-i/ntiea'arl.' J)refscs. 43 Habits, Josephs, Great Coats, Horsemens Coats, Russia Coats, Hussar Coats, Bedgowns, ISTight-Gowns, and Robe de shambers. Widows Weeds, Sultains, Sultans, and Cantouches, after the neatest manner. Likewise Par- hament. Judges, & Councellers Robes, ItaUan Robes, Cossockeens, Capuchins, Newmarket Cloaks, Long- Cloaks, Short Do. Quilted Coats, Hoop Petticoats, Under Coats, All Sorts of Fringes & Laces as Cheap as from the Makers Bonuetts, Hatts, Short Hoods and Caps of all Sorts Plain Sattins, Sasnetts and Persians. All Sorts of Childbed Linning, Cradles, Baskets & Robes &c Also Stuffs, Camblets, Cahmancoes & Worsted Damasks, Norwich Crapes & Bumbasins, Scarlet Cloaths, Duffels & Frizes, Dimitys, New Market Hunting Caps, &c. Likewise all Sorts of Masquerade Dresses." More than this, Dr. Hill, thus estabUshed on copper plate, would have had promptly to invent his f aihu-e. In 1754, three years later, Hannah Glasse figured among the bankrupts of the year; " Hannah Glasse of St.Paurs, Co- vent Garden, Warehousekeeper," is the entry. He would also have had to claim two other books : The Servant's Directory, published in 1760, ahnost fifteen years after the Art of Cookery, a book I have never been able to u find/ and The Compleat Confectioner, published in I can- not say what year, for my copy, a first edition, has no date, and the book is known neither to Hazlitt nor Yicaire. And as a last touch, he must have had the brilhant idea of opening a cookery school in Edinburgh, if I can trust " M. D.," who wrote a note on the fly-leaf of my copy of The Compleat Confectioner to protest against the revival, in the Times, of the old scandal. This was in 1866, when some one rashly called Mrs. Glasse " Mrs. Harris." Mrs. Glasse, M. D. says, " hved in the flesh in Edinburgh about 1790. She taught cookery to classes of young ladies. My mother was a pupil and fondly showed in her old age to her children a copy of Glasse's Cookery, with the autograph of the authoress, gained as a prize in the School of Cookery." " M. D." at once spoils her case by adding, " This book did contain ' Catch ' Just as I am re-reading this before trusting it to the post, a package is handed to me. I open it. The Servant's Directory, or Housekeeper's Companion, by H. Glasse. The book I have been searching for during long years ! The miracle I owe, I am proud to say, to Mr. Janvier, whose intimacy with Mr. Hutchinson, Port of Philadelphia, has made him sympathize with me in my study of the Science of the Gullet. 45 your Hare.' " Not before seeing it could I believe. I have spent honrs in pursuit of the famous phrase, or, at least, the reason of the misquotation, in the hope that success might, forever after, hnk my name with that of Hannah Glasse. But I can come no nearer to the clue than the " First Case your hare," found in every cook- ery book of the period, that Mr. Churton Collins has just been offering as an explanation, and so depriving me of the chance of being the first with even this obvious discovery. Well, anyway, beheve in Mrs. Glasse, or not, the cookery book that bears her name is the only one published in the eighteenth century now remembered by the whole world. And yet, it is in eighteenth-century books my collection is richest. They are mostly substantial octavos, calf bound, much the worse for wear, often " embellished " with an elegant frontispiece, a portrait of the author, or picture of the kitchen, and, I regret to say, seldom very beautiful examples of the printer's art. Several have been given to me by friends who know my weakness. For instance, few books in my entire hbrary do I prize more than the Collection Of above Three Hundred Re- ceipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery; For the Use of 46 all Good Wives, Tender Mothers, and Careful Nurses, not so much because it is curious and tolerably rare, as because of the Kttle legend, "Hommage to Autolycus,' Austin Dobson," on the fly-leaf. The greater number I have bought at different times, but it is to be noted that never, hke Sala, have I picked one up from a coster- monger's barrow, though, for a while, I made weekly pilgrimages to Whitechapel in their pursuit. Usually they have come through the second-hand booksellers, A few sympathizers. Dr. Fiirnivall chief among them, never fail to let me know of a chance for a bargain. Once I was offered some odd twenty, all in one lot, be- fore they were advertised, and I hardly receive a cata- logue that does not contain two or three in its hst. IS^or are they often costly. For the price of one Mrs. Glasse in the first edition, you can have a whole series of her contemporaries. And so this section of my collection has grown, until I have over seventy books pubHshed in England alone during the eighteenth century. If I were asked to point out any one characteristic they 1 Perhaps I should explain that my articles on cookery appeared in the Pall MaU, under the title of Wares of Autolycus, and it was while I was writing them that Mr. Dobson gave me the book. 47 all share in common, I would say it was the busmess- hke seriousness of their authors. The amateur had been silenced forever by artists like Robert May and Will Rabisha. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, almost all the new cookery books were being written by cooks. And the new authors were in haste, on the very title-page, to present their credentials. Henry Howard (England's Newest Way in all Sorts of Cookery, 1703, — my edition, alas, is 1708) and T. Hall (The Queen's Royal Cookery, 1713) were Free Cooks of London. Patrick Lamb (The Complete Court-Cook, 1710) was " near fifty years Master Cook to their late Majesties King Charles H, King James H, King William, Queen Mary, and to her Present Majesty, Queen Anne," and in the Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household, you can learn to a halfpenny how much he earned in a year. Charles Carter (The Com- pleat City and Country Cook, 1732), whose boast it was that he came of " a long race of predecessors," presided over the kitchens of the Duke of Argyle, the Earl of Pontefract, and Lord ComwaUis. John Nott (The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary, 1727), Vincent La Cha- peUe (The Modem Cook, 1751, but then mine is a fourth 48 edition), William Verral (A Complete System of Cook- ery, 1759), — all I could name have as irreproachable references. A few were not cooks in service, but teach- ers: Edward Kidder, Pastry-Master, for one, who ran two schools : in Queen Street, near St. Thomas Apostle's, where he held his classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and "Wednesdays, and at Furnival's Inn in Holborn, where he presided on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays ; he also was willing, kind soul, to teach ladies in their own houses. I respect Kidder as a man of originality, for his Eeceipts of Pastry and Cookery is vmlike any book of the same period. From the frontispiece, where he appears in ample wig, with one hand uplifted as if in exhortation to his class, to the amazing plans for setting and decorating a dinner-table, it is neatly engraved and printed on one side of the page only, the receipts written out in the most beautiful copper-plate writing. He was original in his spelhng, too : " Sauceages," I consider a gem even in the eighteenth century j and he was surely a forerunner of the modern cockney, when he wrote, " To roast an Hare." The ladies were as eager to vouch for their quahfioations. 49 Mrs. Mary Bale, whose Eeceipts were first published in 1708, was Confectioner to Queen Anne; Mrs. Charlotte Mason was a Housekeeper who had had " upwards of Thirty Years' Experience in Families of the first Fash- ion; " Mrs. Ehzabeth Raff aid held the same position to the Hon. Lady Ehzabeth Warburton, and Mrs. Sarah Martin, to Freeman Bower, Esq., of Bawtry, — I have his copy of her book, with receipts in his own hand- writing on pages inserted for the purpose, with a note testifying to their origin by his great-nephew. Canon Jackson ! Others proudly proclaimed their town or coun- ty, as if their reputation made further detail superflu- ous : Mrs. Mary Wilson of Hertfordshire, Mrs. Sarah Harrison of Devonshire, Mrs. Susannah Carter of Clerk- enweU, Mrs. Ann Shackleford of Winchester. And then there were the rivals of Edward Kidder: Mrs. Frazer, Mrs. Cleland, and Mrs. Maciver taught the Arts of Cook- ery, Pastry, and Confectionery in Edinburgh, where, if M. D. is to be beheved, Hannah Glasse joined them after her adventures in the Bankruptcy Court. But whatever their quahfications, they are to be counted by the dozen, so that I can but wonder why it seemed so astonishing a 50 thing for Hannah More, Mary WoUstonecraft, and the other Blue Stockings of the eighteenth century to rush into print. The seriousness with which these cooks and housekeep- ers and professors took themselves was reflected in their style. An occasional seventeenth-century book, reap- pearing ia an eighteenth-century edition, may have con- tinued to enjoy something of popularity; an occasional new book at the very beginning of the period may have retained something of the old picturesqueness. The Col- lection Of above Three Hundred Receipts fiUs its pages with Tansies and Possets, Syllabubs and Flummeries, still recommends a dish as "the best that ever was tasted," and stiU advises you " to put in a little shalot, if you love it; " The Queen's Royal Cookery is as flam- boyant with decorative adjectives as any queen's closet. But as time went on, the pleasant old familiarity went out of fashion, and ornament was chastened. The Uter- ary tendency of the age was toward more formal dig- nity, a greater regularity of form. In accordance with the mode, receipts were written with a businesshke deci- sion, a professional directness that allowed no flowers of speech. Many cooks seem to have forestalled or copied 51 Dr. Johnson in the effort to say a thing as pompously as it could be said; disdain of ornament led many to a mat- ter-of-fact bluntness that is appalling. " Stick your Pig just above the breast-bone," says Mrs. Elizabeth Eaffald without any preamble, " rmi your knife to the heart, when it is dead, put it in cold water." "Whoever, after that, would eat of her pig has more courage than I, Some sort of order was also introduced into the arrange- ment of receipts, in the place of the haphazard disorder of the old MS. books. The change was due, in a large measure, to French influence. In France, the art of cook- ery had reached a much higher stage of perfection than in England. The Enghsh might rebel against the fact, and they did in good earnest. It was not only the Squire of Clod-Hall who " Classed your Kickshaws and Ragoos With Popery and Wooden Shoes." Steele deplored the fashion that banished the " noble Sirloin " ignominiously " to make way for French Kick- shaws," and he held a French ragout to be " as perni- cious to the Stomach as a glass of spirits." " What work would our countrymen have made at Blenheim and EamiUies, if they had been fed with fricassees and ra- 52 gouts ? " he asks. It was the " parcel of Kickshaws con- trived by a French cook " that gave the finishing touch to Matthew Bramble's displeasure with the wife of his friend Baynard. " Their meals are gross," was one of Dr. Johnson's first entries in the Diary of his httle Tour in Prance, proving forever that he was not the " man of very nice discernment in the science of cookery " that Boswell thought him. And, at home, was it not of a cer- tain nobleman's French cook he was heard to say with vehemence, " I 'd throw such a rascal into the river " ? The English cooks were as outspoken. Mrs. Glasse's Preface is a protest against "the blind Folly of this age that they would rather be imposed on by a French Booby than give encouragement to a good English Cook ... if Gentlemen will have French cooks, they must pay for French tricks." E. Smith regretted that in her book she had to include a few French dishes, " since we have, to our disgrace, so fondly admired the French tongue, French modes, and also French messes." Charles Carter lamented that "some of our Nobihty and gentry have been too much attached to French Customs and French Cookery," — too willing " to dress even more delicious Fare after the Humour of the (perhaps 58 vitiated) palates of some great Personages or noted Epi- cures of France." It was the one point upon which all, with a few exceptions, were agreed. But protests were of small avail. Already, in his Direc- tions to Servants, Swift had found it a long time since the custom began among the people of quality to keep men cooks and generally of the French nation. Patriot- ism, I fear, does not begin in the stomach. French cooks presided in most of the big houses ; French cooks were patronized by royalty ; French cooks wrote cookery books. The French Family Cook (1793) was but a be- lated translation of the famous Cuisiniere Bourgeoise (1746) . La Chapelle, who published a treatise, was a Frenchman. So was Clermont. Yerral studied imder a Frenchman. And from French sources the most patri- otic were not ashamed to steal. Mrs. Smith, however she might object to French messes, must still admit the necessity to temporize, justifying herself by including only " such receipts of French cookery as I think may not be disagreeable to Enghsh palates." Mrs. Glasse, however she might scorn the French Booby, must still give some of her dishes " French names to distinguish them, because they are known by those names," and it 54 matters not if they be called French so they are good. The question reduced itself simply to one of demand and supply. But if the " French Kickshaws " had been so bad for the pubhc as patriots preached, the study of French books was altogether good for the preachers. Under the sweet civilizing influence of France the bar- barous medley of the English cookery book disappeared. A roast did not turn up unexpectedly between a sweet and a savory, or a fish in the midst of the soups, or an omelet lost among the vegetables. Each dish was duly labeled and entered in its appropriate chapter. Chemi- cal, Physical, and Chirurgical Secrets were banished to separate volumes with a few curious exceptions. " I shall not take upon me to meddle in the physical way farther than two receipts," writes Mrs. Glasse. " One is for the bite of a mad dog, and the other if a man should be near where the Plague is, he shall be in no danger." And these receipts are so often repeated in rival cookery books that I can only suppose there were many who believed in earnest what Lord Chesterfield said in jest when, six years after Mrs. Glasse's book was pubhshed, he wrote to his son that his friend EJ-eu- ningen " admits nobody now to his table, for fear of their 55 communicating the plague to him, or at least the bite of a mad dog." But it was no easy matter for the ladies to relinquish their rights to prescribe. If the gentle- woman of the day still " knew for sprains what bands to choose. Could tell the sovereign wash to use For freckles, and was learned in brews As erst Medea," it would not have done for the self-appointed instructors of the sex to be behindhand in these arts, E. Smith cannot resist giving some two hundred receipts " never before been made public," though she has the grace to print them in a section apart. Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Price both undertake to make " Every man his own Doctor," and in the undertaking Mrs. Price supplies a cure that I quote on the chance of its proving useful, for I fancy the malady continues to be common, so af- flicted am I with it myself. " For the Lethargy," she says, " you may snuff strong vinegar up the nose." It was natural at a time when Compendiums, Universal Visitors, Dictionaries of Commerce, and of everything else, were in vogue, that other women took upon them- selves also, by means of Dictionaries, and Magazines, 56 and Companions, and Jewels, and Guides, to see their sex comfortably through life " from the cradle to the grave." I have any number of ambitious books of this kind, all based on The Whole Duty of Woman, and the performance of Mrs, Hannah WooUey of seventeenth- century fame. Take a few headings of chapters from any one chosen at random, and you have the character of all : Of Eeligion ; The Duty of Virgins ; Of Wives ; Of Gravies, Soups, Broths, Pottages. But the system, the careful division of subjects, now become indispen- sable, is observed even in these compilations. The new love of order had one drawback. It gave writers less opportunity for self -revelation. I miss the personal note so pleasant in the older books of cookery, that is, in the receipts themselves. One collection is so like another I can hardly tell them apart unless I turn to the title-page or the preface. But here ample amends are made. The cook did not suppress his individuality meekly, and, fortunately for him, the age was one of Prefaces and Dedications. In the few pages where he still could swagger, he made up for the many where the mode forced him to efface himself. " Custom," says John IS'ott, in 1723, to the " Worthy Dames " to whom 57 he offers his Dictionary, " has made it as unfashionable for a Book to appear without an Introduction, as for a Man to appear at Church without a Neckcloth, or a Lady without a Hoop-petticoat." " It being grown as unfashionable for a Book to appear in public without a Preface, as for a Lady to appear at a Ball without a Hoop-petticoat," says Mrs. Smith in 1727, her great tal- ent being for plagiarism, " I shall conform to custom for Fashion's sake, and not through any Necessity." Mr. Hazhtt thinks Mrs. Smith unusually observant ; he should have remembered the hbrary at her disposal, and, had he known this hbrary more intimately, he would have reahzed how httle scruple she had in drawing from it. She only writes because, although already there are " va- rious Books that treat on this subject and which bear great names as Cooks to Kings, Princes and Noblemen," most of them have deceived her in her expectations, so im- practicable, whimsical, or unpalatable, are the receipts. But she presents the result of her own experience " in Fashionable and Noble Famihes," and if her book but " prove to the advantage of many, the end will be an- swered that is proposed by her that is ready to serve the Publick in what she may." Each writer in turn is as 58 eager to find a reason for his or her help in glutting the market. The author of the Collection Of above Three Hundred Receipts is prompted by the sole " desire of doing good," in which, fortunately, she has been aided by those " who with a ISToble Charity and Universal Be- nevolence have exposed to the World such invaluable secrets," as, I suppose, " how to stew Cucumbers to eat hot," or " to make the London "Wigs," — gratitude, above all, being due to the Fair Sex, " who, it may be because of the greater Tenderness of their Nature or their greater Leisure, are always found most Active and Industrious in this, as well as in all other kinds of Char- ity. O Heavenly Charity ! " — and so on, and so on. William Gelleroy has learnt during service with the Lord Mayor that " so long as it is the fashion to eat, so long will cookery books be useful." Mrs. EUzabeth Price, the healer of Lethargy, thinks it her duty to show the world how to unite " Economy and Elegance," and, as an assurance of her abihty, breaks into verse on her title-page : — " Here you may quickly learn with care To act the housewife's part, And dress a modern BiU of Fare With Elegance and Art." A COLLECTION Of above Three Hundred RECEIPTS I N Cookery, Phyfick and Surgery; For the Ufe of all Good Wives, Tender Mothers^ and Careful Nuries. By feveral Hands. C^e ^econU CDittotu To which is Added, A Second Pa rt. Containing a great Number of Excellent Receipts, for Preferving and Con- ferving of Sweet-Meats, ^c. r.ONDON^ Printed for Af^y KettUby, and Sold by Richard mikin, at the Ktn£s Head in St. PauTs CbHTch'Tard. MDCCXIX. 59 Mrs. Charlotte Mason knows there are many books, but has " never met with one that contained any instructions for regulating a table." Mrs. EUzabeth Moxon, like the modest author to-day, shifts the responsibility to her " honored friends who first excited her to the publica- tion of her book, and who have been long eye-witnesses of her Skill and Behaviour in the Business of her Call- ing." Mrs. Ehzabeth Eaffald, reflecting upon the con- tempt with which the many volumes already pubHshed were read, seems to have hoped no one would find her out if she boldly borrowed from Mrs. Price and Mrs. Glasse, and tried to save her own from the general fate by imiting " Economy and Elegance," taking the very words out of Mrs. Price's mouth, and by seeing that it was not " glossed over with Hard Names or words of High Stile, but wrote in my own plain language," barely altering Mrs. Glasse's memorable phrase. I select a few specimens of her plain language : " Hares and Rabbits requires time and care," she says, with a cheerful disre- gard of grammar; " Pigeons Transmogrified " is a term I should recommend to the Century Company for a new edition of their Dictionary; while upon a very popular dish of the day she bestows the name " Solomon-gundy," 60 as if she fancied that, somehow, King Solomon were responsible for it. John Farley hopes his book is distin- guished from others by " Perspicuity and Regularity." But I might go on quoting indefinitely, for almost every Preface is a masterpiece of its kind, so pompous in its periods, so bombastic in its eloquence, until I begin to suspect that if Bacon wrote Shakespeare, so Dr. John- son must have written Nott and Lamb and Clermont and Farley; that if Dr. Hill transformed himself into Hannah Glasse, so Dr. Johnson must have masqueraded as E. Smith, Elizabeth Raff aid, and a whole bevy of fair cooks and housekeepers. There is another trait shared by all these cooks, to whom I should do scant justice if I did not point it out. This is the large liberality with which they practiced their art. The magnitude of their ideas, at times, makes me gasp. I have been often asked if, with such a fine collection to choose from, I do not amuse myself experimenting with the old receipts. But all our flat turned into a kitchen would not be large enough to cook an eighteenth-cen- tury dinner, nor our year's income to pay for it. The proportions used in each different dish are gigantic. What Dr. King wrote in jest of the different cooks who, 61 " to show you the largeness of their soul, prepared you Mutton swol'd ^ and oxen whole," was virtually true. For a simple " Fricassy," you begin with half a dozen chick- ens, half a dozen pigeons, half a dozen sweetbreads, and I should need a page to explain what you finish with for garniture. Fowls disappeared into a Iamb or other meat pie by the dozen; a simple leg of mutton must have its garniture of cutlets; twelve pounds of good meat, to say nothing of odd partridges, fowls, turkeys, and ham, went into the making of one stew, — it is something stupendous to read. And then the endless number of dishes in a menu, — the insufferably crowded table. A century before, Pepys had discovered the superior merit of serving " but a dish at a time " when he gave his fine dinner to Lord Sandwich. But the eighteenth-century books continue to pubhsh menus that make Gargan- tua's appetite seem mere child's play; their plates "ex- hibiting the order of placing the different dishes, etc., on the table in the most polite way " would spoil the ap- petite of the bravest. Forty-three dishes are symmetri- cally arranged for a single course in one of Yincent La ^ " Swol'd Mutton is a sheep roasted in its Wool," according to Dr. Lister himsell 62 Chapelle's plates, and La Chapelle was a Frenchman, and in England enjoyed Lord Chesterfield's patronage. Cooks may have got so advanced as no longer to be- heve " that Syllibubs come first and Soups the last," but quantity was stiU their standard of merit. Authorities may have begun to decree that " three courses be the most." But consider what a course meant. Let me give one menu of two courses as an average example. It is for a July day, and Mrs. Smith is the artist: "First Course: Cock Salmon with buttered lobsters, Dish of Scotch coUops, Chine of Yeal, Yenison pasty, Grand Sal- lad, Roasted geese and ducklings, Patty royal, Eoasted pig larded. Stewed carps. Dish of chickens boiled with bacon, etc.," — that etc. is expressive. " Second Course: Dish of partridges and quails, Dish of lobsters and prawns. Dish of ducks and tame pigeons. Dish of jellies. Dish of fruit. Dish of marinated fish. Dish of Tarts of sorts." Add a third course to this if you dare. At first, this lavishness perplexed me. I remembered eighteenth-century dinners as simple as our own. For example, Boswell's with Dr. Johnson one Easter Sun- day, — a very good soup, a boiled leg of lamb and spm- ach, a veal pie, and rice pudding, — that seems reason- 63 able. Or again, the beef, pudding, and potatoes to which Grub Street was invited on Sundays by the successful author, according to Smollett. Or Stella's breast of mutton and a piat of wine when she dined at home in Dublin. " Two plain dishes, with two or three good- natured, cheerful, ingenious friends," was Steele's idea of a good dinner. But then there is the opposite side of the picture. Dr. Johnson's Gulosulus, cultivating the art of living at the cost of others. Swift, in London, saun- tering forth of a morning dehberately in search of a dinner at somebody else's house and expense, and if none of the great men with great establishments invited him, dropping in for want of something better, and without a moment's notice, at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and he could not have been a more severe critic had he had the special invitation which Dr. Johnson thought made the special menu an obhgation. " The worst dinner I ever saw at the dean's was better," Swift wrote to Stella, " than one had at Sir Thomas Hansel's," and " yet this man has ten thousand pounds a year and is a Lord of the Trea- sury ! " At the Earl of Abingdon's, on a certain Ash Wednesday, there was nothing but fish that was raw, wine that was poison, candles that were tallow ; and yet 64 " the puppy has twelve thousand pounds a year," though I do not find that Swift went the length of calling his host puppy in print, more outspoken as he was than most of his contemporaries. Swift was but one of a large crowd of hungry men in search of a free dumer which they looked upon as their right. By food the noble Lord tamed his authors and secured his sycophants; by food the gracious Lady ruled her salon. " Whenever you meet with a man eminent ia any way, feed him, and feed upon him at the same time," was Lord Chesterfield's advice to his son. Mrs. Thrale had but to provide sweet- meats to make her evenings a success, Dr. Johnson thought. Nor, for that matter, has the bait lost its cun- ning ia the London of to-day. Now the eighteenth-cen- tury cook who wrote books was a snob. He would al- ways have you know it was with the Tables of Princes, Ambassadors, Noblemen, and Magistrates he was con- cerned; but rarely would he devise " the least expen- sive methods of providing for private f amiUes," and then it must be " in a very elegant manner." He had, there- fore, to design on a large scale, to adapt his art to the nmnber and hunger and fastidiousness of the hanger- on. And here, I think, you have the explanation. 65 But another problem I have hitherto been unable to solve. When I study the receipts of the period, I am struck by their variety and excellence. The tendency to over- seasoning, to the mixing of sweets and savories in one dish, had not altogether been overcome; probably, I am afraid, because fresh meat was not always to be had, and suspicious flavors had to be disguised. Some " made dishes" you know, without tasting them, to be as " wretched attempts " as Maclaurin's seemed to Dr. Johnson. However, so many and ingenious were the ways of preparing soups, sauces, meats, poultry, game, fish, vegetables, and sweets, the gourmet had sufficient chance to steer clear of the tawdry and the crude. Only in Voltaire's witticism was England then a country of a hundred religions and one sauce. Soup soared above the narrow oxtail and turtle ideal, and the cook roamed at will from the richest bisque to the simplest bouillon. The casserole was exalted and shared the honors with the honest spit. Fricassees and ragouts were not yet overshadowed by plain roast and boiled. Vegetables were not thought, when unadorned, to be adorned the most. And as for oysters, an American could not have been more accomplished in frying, scalloping, stewing. 66 roasting, broiling, and boiling them, — even Swift gave his dear little M. D. a receipt for boiled oysters, which must have been not unlike that delicious dish of mussels one has eaten in many a French provincial hotel. And what is England to-day? A country soupless and sauce- less, consecrated to a " Chop or a Steak, sir ! " from John o' Groat's to Land's End, vowed irrevocably to boiled potatoes and greens, without as much as a grain of salt to flavor them. How did it happen? What was the rea- son of the Decline and Fall? Not Tatler's Appeal to his fellow countrymen to " return to the food of their forefathers, and reconcile themselves to beef and mut- ton." That was uttered in 1710, and had absolutely no effect upon the tendency of the eighteenth- century cookery books that followed. As for " the common peo- ple of this kingdom [who] do still keep up the taste of their ancestors," never yet have they set the fashion. I confess I still remain in outer darkness, groping for a clue. If, as a rule, the eighteenth-century books, save for their prefaces, have a strong family resemblance, I prize the more the small but select saving remnant that makes for individuality. There are books that stand out with 67 distinction, in my estimate, at least, because of the originality of the title: for instance, Adam's Luxury and Eve's Cookery; or the Kitchen-Garden display'd. (Printed for R. Dodsley in Pall Mall, 1744.) This octavo I saw first in the Patent Library collection of cookery books, never resting afterwards until I had secured a copy of my own, and the contents would have to be more colorless than they are to spoil my pleasm^e in the name. Now the charm is in the illustrations : for exam- ple. The Honours of the Table, or Rules for Behaviour During Meals (by the author of Principles of Pohteness, 1791). Most of the cookery books of the period are content with the frontispiece, engraved on copper. But this little book has tail-pieces and illustrations scattered through the text, described in catalogues and bibhogra- phies as " Woodcuts by Bewick." I saw it also first at the Patent Library, and before the ardor of my pursuit had cooled to the investigation point, three different editions had a place on my shelves ; two printed in Lon- don at the Literary Press, in 1788 and 1791, the third printed in Dublin also in 1791. Then I found that the wood engravings — it is a mistake to caU them wood- cuts, and one might as well be pedantic in these mat- 68 ters — are not by Thomas but by John Bewick, which makes a difference to the collector. But then Bewick's brother is not to be despised, and the book is full of useful hints, such as " eating a great deal is deemed in- delicate in a lady (for her character should be rather divine than sensual) ; " or, " if any of the company seem backward in asking for wine, it is the part of the mas- ter to ask or invite them to drink, or he will be thought to grudge his liquor." A few books please me because of the tribute their learning pays to the kitchen. Among these the most celebrated is Dr. Lister's edition of ApiciuB Coehus, published in 1705, now a rare book, at the time a bombshell in the camp of the antiquary, who, living in the country and hearing of it but not yet seeing it, was reduced to such " perplexity of mind " that " he durst not put any Catchup in his Fish Sauce, nor have his beloved Pepper, Oyl and Limon with his Partridge," lest " he might transgress in using something not com- mon to the Antients." Another is The Art of Cookery, (1705), in imitation of Horace, by the Dr. Eang who was described, two years later, by Swift to Stella, as " a poor starving wit." And indeed, the £32 5 0, said to have been paid him for the poem by Lintot, could 69 not have tided him over his difficulties as a thirsty man. It is rather a ponderous performance, with here and there flashes : probably the verses were some of those Pope said he would write " in a tavern three hours after he could not speak." The book was a skit really on Dr. Lister and his Apicius Coelius that, for the moment, served the wit as a target for his ridicule. But, of all, the books I love most are those that make their appeal by some unexpected literary association. I own to a genuine emotion when I f oimd it was to Lord Chesterfield that Vincent La Chapelle dedicated The Modern Cook, and that to the chef in his kitchen the noble patron offered the helping hand he later refused to the author at his door. I cannot understand why, for La ChapeUe, in his praise of his lordship's exalted qual- ities, did not humble himself more completely than John- son when overpowered, fike the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of his lordship's address. In the Gentle Art of Toadying, the author of the eighteenth century could instruct the cook. It was, however, reserved for WiUiam Yerral to give me the greatest thrill. His Com- plete System of Cookery is little known even to biblio- graphers; its receipts do not seem exceptional, perhaps 70 because they have been eo freely borrowed by other compilers; in make-up the book scarcely differs from the average, nor is there special distinction in Yerral's post at the time of his writing, — he was master of the White Hart Inn, Lewes, Sussex; "no more than what is vulgarly called a poor publican " is his description of himself. But his title-page at the first glance was worth more to me than a whole shelf of his contemporaries' big fat volumes. Let me explain. By no great man in the annals of cookery have I been so puzzled as by that once famous " Chloe," French cook to the Duke of l^ew- castle, and important enough in his own generation to swagger for a minute in the Letters of Horace Walpole and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. I had heard of Chloe, the beloved of Daphnis; I had heard of Chloe, the rival of Steele's Clarissa; I had even heard of Chloe, the old darky cook of the South. But of Chloe, a Frenchman, I had never heard, and I knew, without consulting the Encyclopsedia, he simply could not exist. Who, then, was the Duke of Newcastle's Chloe? He was the last person I had in my mind when I began to read Verral's title, but by the time I got to the end I understood : A Complete System of Cookery, In which 71 is set forth a Variety of genuine Receipts; collected from several Years' Experience under the celebrated Mr. de St. Clouet, sometimes since Cook to his Grace, the Duke of Newcastle. Clouet — Chloe — is it not as near and neat a guess as could be hoped for in the French of eighteenth-century London? He deserves his fame, for his receipts are excellent; wisdom in all he says about soup; genius in his use of garhc. Yerral, more- over, writes an Introductory Preface, a graceful bit of autobiography, " to which is added, a true character of Mons. de St. Clouet;" so well done that there is scarcely a cook in history, not Vatel, not Careme, whom I now feel I know better. " An honest man," Verral testifies, " worthy of the place he enjoyed in that noble family he had the honour to live in," not extravagant as was said, but " setting aside the two soups, fish, and about five gros entrees (as the French caU them) he has with .the help of a couple of rabbits or chickens, and six pigeons, completed a table of twenty-one dishes at a course, with such things as used to serve only for gar- nish round a lump of great heavy dishes before became." Fortunately for the Duke of Newcastle's purse, St. Clouet must still have been with him for the famous 72 banquets celebrating his installation as Chancellor at Cambridge, when, according to Walpole, his cooks for ten days massacred and confounded " all the species that Noah and Moses took such pains to preserve and distinguish," and, according to Gray, everyone "was very owUsh and tipsy at night," This was ui 1749; 1759 is the date of Verral's book, by which time St. Clouet had become cook to the Marechal de Richelieu. I think it but due to him to recall that he was " of a temper so affable and agreeable as to make everybody happy around him. He would converse about indiffer- ent matters with me (Verral) or his kitchen boy, and the next moment, by a sweet turn in his discourse, give pleasure by his good behaviour and genteel deportment, to the first steward in the family. His conversation is always modest enough, and having read a little, he never wanted something to say, let the topick be what it would," How delightful if cooks to-day brought us such graceful testimonials ! It is with discoveries of this kind my Cookery Books re- ward me for the time — and worse, the money — I spend upon them. I never pick up one already in my collection, well as I may know it, without wondering what puzzle 73 it will unravel for me ; I never buy a new one without seeing in it the possible key to a mystery. And when I consider how much more fruitful in such rewards my eighteenth-century books have been than my seventeenth, when I consider the splendor of their mock heroics, the magnificence of their bombast, I waver in my old allegiance and begin to think that, after all, this is the period that charms me most in the Literature of the Kitchen. Ill JLt is when I look at my Latin books that I am most con- vinced of my sincerity as collector. My English books I can read and enjoy. But my pleasure in these old vel- lum-covered quartos and octavos, printed in a language I cannot understand, is purely bibliographical. Were their pages blank, my profit as reader could be no less. But without them, my pride as collector would not be so great. They are not many, or it would be nearer the truth to say they are very few. But these few are of rare inter- est, and at least one would satisfy the collector of Early Printed Books. Indeed, since I have been collecting, I begin to believe that the real achievement of the Eenais- sance was not the discovery of the world and man, as historians fancy, but the discovery of the kitchen, so promptly were cookery books put on the market. The earliest, Platina's De Honesta Voluptate, I cannot men- tion without a sigh, remembering how once at Sotheby's I came within a miserable pound of having the edition dated 1475 for my own, — such an exceptionally fine copy too ! However, I take what comfort I can from 75 Apicius Coelius, which I have in two editions. One, the first, is only eleven years younger than the Platina; and 1486 is a respectable date, as these matters go. When the first chapter on My Cookery Books was printed in The Atlantic, I had only the 1498 edition, my copy, as I described it, quite perfect save for the absence of the title-page. For long I tried to convince myself that this absence was welcome as one of the marks by which the Early Printed Book may be known. Besides, I could see no need for a title-page, when there, on the last page, was the name of the printer, and the date, while the space left for the capital letter at the begioning of every division was still another mark as distinctive of the primitive press, though 1498 might be a little late to look for either one or the other. But M. Yicaire and his Bibliography refused to leave me in my comfortable ignorance. The 1498 edition, when perfect, has a title- page ; one, moreover, with a fine printer's mark, — an angel holding a sphere. The curious may be referred to the example at the BibHotheque I^ationale in Paris. But not even M. Yicaire can put me out of countenance when it comes to my first edition,^ printed by Bernardino of 1 1 speak of it as the first out of deference to the authorities. 76 Venice. That, anyway, is in order: title-page in place, the spaces, all except one, filled with decorative capitals by the wood-cutter; the pages imtorn and unsoiled, only mellowed by time to a rich yellow; here and there, on the margin, a note, and once some verses, in beautiful old handwriting; the binding of vellimi. I have the fur- ther satisfaction of knowing that it is more complete than any that has come in M. Vicaire's way. On the title-page there are three titles : Apitii Celii de re Co- quinaria libri decern ; Suetonius Traquillus De Claris Gramaticis ; Suetonius TraquiUus De Claris Ehetoribus. M. Yicaire calls attention to the fact that the two trea- tises under the heading Suetonius, etc., do not appear. But in my copy they do, combined in one essay. And whenever I am discouraged by the condition of some of my rare books into asking myself whether, after all, they are anything more than Mr. Lang's "twopenny trea- sures," a glance at the 1486 Apicius restores my confi- dence in my collection. When I consider what the mere possession of the book Judging the books by their appearance, I should say the 1498 edi- tion was far the earlier. Certainly it is the first with a date, and, I am happy to say, is excessively rare. Apicii Celii de re Coquinaria libri decern* Saetonius TraquillasDe Claris Gramadci's* Suetonius Traquillus De Qaris Rhecoribus;; Coquinariae capita Grseca ab Apitio poGca hxc funt: EpimeIes:Artoprus:Cepurica:Pandedler:Orprion Trophetes;PoIyteles:Tetrapus:ThaIa(ra:HaUciiss Haac Plato adulacricem medidnx appellac* 77 means to me, it seems unreasonable to waste my time in regretting the further pleasure I might have, if only I could read it. But what a triumph, if I could decide the vexed question as to whether one of the three men who, in the days of Roman Emperors, made the name Apicius the synonym for gluttony, was the author, and, if so, which; or whether, as Dr. Martin Lister and Dr. Warner agreed over a hundred years ago, the book was the work of a fifteenth-century student of cookery who borrowed the ancient name to advertise his own performance. And what a satisfaction if I could demolish the irreverent critics who declare the receipts to be full of " garbage," — of vile concoctions, with assafcetida for motif ! The few words I can understand — asparagus, carrots, wine, oil, melons, pork — sound innocent, even appetizing. But to argue from such meagre premises would be about as wise as to criticise a picture, in Morellian fash- ion, after seeing it only in the photograph. I have also Dr. Lister's edition, with numerous notes: not the first published in London in 1705, but the second, printed in Amsterdam four years later, limited to a hundred copies. This is the book which set Dr. Bang to writing his Art of Cookery in imitation of Horace, and 78 filled scholars who could not secure it for themselves with despair lest they might be dining in defiance of classical rule. The notes are so many that they turn the thin little old quarto into a fat octavo. For their learning, as they too are in Latin, I must take the word of Dr. Lister's admirers. But, without reading them, I know they are sympathetic. Dr. Lister was not only physician to Queen Anne, but her adviser in the Art of Eating, and it was his privilege to inspire the indigestions it became his duty to cure. The frontispiece calls for no interpreter, though the scrupulous housekeeper might think it needs an apologist. It shows a kitchen with poultry, fruit, and vegetables strewn over the floor as none but the artist would care to see them, and cooks, in the scantiest drapery, posing in the midst of the con- fusion ; prominent in the foreground, a Venetian plaque exactly like one on my dining-room mantelpiece, or for that matter like dozens shining and glittering from the darkness of the cheap Httle fish-shops of Venice. With these three editions of Apicius, I am content. I know ten are duly entered in the pages of M. Vicaire, but when a book figures so seldom in sale rooms and catalogues, I think I am to be envied my good fortune in owning it at all. 79 My next Latin work is De Ee Cibaria, by Bruyerin, which I have in the first edition, a thick, podgy octavo, pubhshed at Lyons by Sebastian Honorat in 1560. A more severe and solid page of type I have never seen. The quotations from Horace or Yirgil, breaking the so- lidity, seem hke indiscretions ; an air of undue frivolity is given when, toward the end, the division into short chap- ters results in two, three, and even four initial letters on a single page ; while a capital 'N, inserted sideways, and overlooked by author, printer, and proof-reader, is a posi- tive relief as the one sign of human weakness in all the eleven hundred and twenty-nine solemn pages. Bruyerin was a learned physician who translated Averroes and Avicenna, and who was sufficiently in favor at court to attend those suppers of Francis I., which, he explains, were served by Theologians, Philosophers, and Doctors. If it was from this company he derived his theory of food, it is alarming to consider the consequences to his contem- poraries. In any case, his book, to look at, is the most impressive in my hbrary. I have also a graceful quarto, called Juris Evidentise Demonstratio in Materia Alimen- torum et Sumptuum Litis, by Maria Francesco Cevoli, Florence, 1703, omitted from all bibliographies of cook- 80 ery books. But as it is concerned indirectly with nour- ishment, it seems to me eligible. Besides, it has many graces of outward form that appeal to the book lover, — a pleasant page well spaced and well printed, old paper mellowed and toned by years, a vellum binding ingen- iously patched. I may as well admit at once that unfortunate gaps occur not only in my Latin, but in aU my foreign sections. Naturally, one's spoils are richest in one's own country. When I travel on the Continent I keep my eyes open, and I receive many foreign catalogues. But that is not quite the same as being continually on the spot. After my English books, my Italian are the most numerous, be- cause mine is the rare good fortune to have had in Italy a friend who was as eager to collect for me as I am to collect for myself. Mr. Charles Godfrey Leland, who lived ia Florence, for several years haunted the old book- shops and barrows there in my behalf, and to htm I owe an imposing shelf of vellum-covered volumes, the titles of many in illuminated letteriag on their backs, often both binding and illumination being the work of his hands. A few prizes have also been captured by me in London, and altogether, if I boast of my Italian section, 81 it is with reason. Curiously, however, though it includes almost everyone of the amazing treatises of the sixteenth century, and though few if any of the nineteenth-century books are missing, the two intervening centuries are un- represented, — the period, that is, to which belong by far the larger part of my EngUsh series. But had the selection been dehberate, instead of the re- sult of mere chance, it could not have been better. The Italian cookery books were the most important published anywhere, in the sixteenth century. Italy then set the standard of cookery, as of all the arts, for the world. Even the French looked up to the Italian chef as to the Italian painter or sculptor. Historically, these old vol- umes are indispensable to the student of the Renaissance. BibhographicaUy, too, they have their charm : being often dehghtful specimens of book-making, and, as often, of imquestionable rarity. For two or three I still look, but the most famous are already in my possession : the Ban- chetti of Christof oro di Messibugo, not in the first edition published at Ferrara in 1549, but in the second with the title changed to Libro !N^ovo, printed In Venetia al segno di San Girolamo in 1552, — a little shabby octavo in cracked vellum; La Singolare Dottrina of Domenico 82 Romoli, a digBified stout octavo which I have in the first edition, bearing the date 1560, and the name of the printer, Michel Tramezino, who seems to have had something like a monopoly of cookery books in Yenice ; the Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi, another of Tramezino's pubhca- tione, also mine in its first edition, 1570, — a nice, fat, substantial octavo in its old vellum covers, but compressed into half the thickness between the shining calfskin with which Sala bound the second edition — 1598 — which I secured at his sale ; II Trinciante of Vincenzo Cervio, my only copy, Giovanni Yacchi's edition of 1593, the first having been issued by the indefatigable Tramezino in 1581 ; Castor Durante's Tesoro deEa Sanita, one of my compensations, as the first of my two editions (Yenice, Andrea Muschio, 1586), is a year earher than the first known to M. Yicaire. You see, I enjoy occasional mo- ments of superiority, if I do suffer occasional humiha- tions. My Italian is no great thing to boast of, but, with the help of a dictionary, I have gradually read enough to learn that these old books are delightftdly amusing. It is their close relationship to the church that strikes me above aU. " Take pride from priests and what remains ? " some- L A SINGOLARE DOTTRINA DI M. DOMRNICO Romolifofratumittato Panunto , Dell'utficio delloScalco.ik'icondinu'nti di tuttelevi- U3nde,left;ioiomche (iconucngono atum gliani- nVali , vccelli , & pefci , Banchetti di Ogni tempo , & mangiaie da apparccchiarfi di di , in di , per tiitto TannoaPrcncipi. Con. la dichiaratione delk quallta delle carni di tutti gti animali , & pefci , eS" di tutte U •piuande circa la fanird . Nelfineynbreue trattatodel reggimentodcIUfamti. Opera (binmameiite vtile a tutti . E IL Alio FOGLIO ^ W o to CtlPriMtlegio del Sommo Ponteftce, & dell'Illufir. SttuUQ IJeneto per anni XX- 3t£0v/*^^^^^^ -^=r^^^ .^^^ fffi^'^^^^^^^p^k;^! o liSfe^l^^^S St%^|ws^\_ri&^^^fc«2»t»jjs/-===- t^ ^g^^y^ ^^fek^^j? w ^^^S^Hi&t5jM' ^^E ii'l'iffl u. 1^^^^^^^^^^= ti^ JjMM^^^lli^^^^^"'^ . j£' •-< ^^^^^^^^^' Sffigpfc*^/ ^i^ '.w^»a^SflJ?8^^^ R/S.^^^^ K \nPI™fe^^^^^^^^^ c/ f^'^^^^^^fet^^a ^I^^S^^^^^^fv^VBVU-^l -«^! mormro 89 nothing more elaborate than melon and a shoe of ham or sausage served together, for all the world as at the last breakfast I ate in the trattoria at Lecco, where the Mi- lanese go for a Sunday outing in summer. Simple salads and salmis had their place among the intricate devices at Cardinal Perrara's table, and Messibugo himself gives ten different kinds of maccheroni, not leaving out the most frequent if least simple of all in to-day's bill of fare, Maccheroni alia Napoletani. Scappi is prodigal in his receipts for soups and fish, and caters specially for the convalescent. Such plain fare as the English veal pie — alia Inglese— was at times imported, though before it reached the Itahan table olives and capers had been added. But stiU, the principal attention was paid to feast- ing, the main tendency of the cookery book was toward excess and exaggeration, until the protest, which Du- rante's Tesoro probably seemed when it appeared in 1586, was sorely needed. It was time to teach, not how to eat, but how, in eating, to preserve health. The next book in my Italian series marks a radical change. If in the sixteenth century the Italian kitchen was para- mount, in the seventeenth, the tables had turned and French cookery had become supreme. It is therefore 90 appropriate that my one Italian book of the period should be the translation of La Yarenne's f amousCuisiaier Fran- 9oi8, since described as " the starting point of modem cookery," My copy of II Cuoco Francese was published in Venice in 1703, but the first edition appeared in 1693 in Bologna, and so the book belongs by right to the same century as the original. Of the century that fol- lowed, my record is almost as barren. But, here again, had the choice been left to me, I should have preferred to all others the books that happen to have found their way to my shelves. For they include the principal works of Francesco Leonard!, who wrote them with that naive want of reserve pecidiar to distinguished cooks. The most elaborate is the Apicio Moderno in six volumes, to the collector an indispensable sequel to the fifteenth cen- tury Apicius. My copy is dated 1807, but the first edi- tion appeared before 1800. Another is the Pasticciere air Uso Moderno, Florence, 1797, written when, after serving the Marechal de Eicheheu, and going through several campaigns with Louis XV., Leonardi had become chef to Catherine IT., Empress of all the Eussias, to whom his French training did not prevent his serving many Italian dishes. But he excelled even himself in the Gi- 91 anina ossia la Cuciniera delle Alpi (the date carefully blotted out on the title-page of my copy, and the book, to my astonishment, unknown to M. Yicaire). It was a legacy, he says, left him by an accomplished lady whom he described as the hostess of an inn on the MontCenis, but whom I suspect to have been one of his own inven- tions. Xot over his most inspired dish did he grow so lyrical as over the story of her happy wooing by the chef Luneville in the kitchen of her father's inn at Neustadt. He makes you feel there is more romance in the Court- ship of Cooks than in all the Loves of the Poets or Tra- gedies of Artists' Wives, and, if only for the sake of the grandiloquent Preface that tells the tale, I recommend this work, his masterpiece. With Leonardi, I bring the record of my Italian books to an end. The nineteenth century produced a large Ubrary on the subject of cookery, and most of the volumes in it I have, but they open an entirely new chapter in the hter- ature of the kitchen. My French books have been chosen as kindly by chance as my Italian. I still wait for the collector's prizes — Taillevent's Yiandier (about 1490), the Eoti-Cochon (about 1696), Le Pastissier Frangois (1655), and I sup- 92 pose I shall go on waiting till the end, so extremely rare are they. But in the history of cookery they do not hold the indispensable place of the three most famous books of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries : La Va- renne's Cuisinier Francois (1651), Les Dons de Comus (1739), La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise (1746), and these I do own in interesting editions. The change that had come over the spirit of the kitchen is at once revealed in the rank of its new patrons. The church had ceased to be the controlling power. La Yarenne was maitre d'hotel to the Marquis d'Uxelles ; Marin, author of Les Dons de Comus, was chef to the Marechal de Soubise, who did pay his cooks, however other men in his service might fare ; and if the author of La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise pre- ferred to remain anonymous, his claim to favor was no ecclesiastical recommendation, but his own excellence as cook. Here was change indeed. But there was a still more vital difference. The Italian cookery books of the sixteenth century were as flamboyant as the kitchen they immortalized. In the French of the seventeenth, the genius of the French people for order, for harmony of balance, in a word, for style, had asserted itself. Perfec- tion of form — that is what the French have striven for L, \}i TouS '^tc fs cLjru r r J. / / 93 in all their arts, and cookery was no exception. Even under Louis XIY., who was blessed with a phenomenal appetite and more phenomenal capacity, dinner became a work of ai't, admirably rounded out, compared to the unspeakable medleys and discords, the barbarous profu- sion in which Popes and Cardinals a century earlier had found their pleasure. It was for a great principle Vatel killed himself when the fish did not arrive in time for the royal dinner at Ch antilly . And the cooks brought the same order to their books. If La Yarenne's has been de- scribed as " the starting point of modern cookery," it is because there is a method in his treatment of the subject, never before attempted, seldom since surpassed. And he wrote it at a time when, in England, Queen's Clos- ets and Cabinets were being opened by titled dilettanti and obsequious courtiers. Compared to contemporary English books, it is as the masterpiece of Claude to the httle pictures that many accomphshed ladies besides Mrs. Pepys and Pegg Penn were turning out for the edifica- tion of their friends. He went to work as systematically as a chemist classifying gases and acids, or as an astrono- mer designing a chart of the heavens. Soups, Pish, En- trees, Eoasts, Sauces, — a whole " artillery of sauces," 9* — Entremets, were treated in their respective sections and correct order. His dishes did stand upon the order of their serving and his book was a training in itself. Its pages may be turned with the same confidence that carries the student through the galleries of French paint- ings in the Louvre — the certainty that all wiU be accom- plished, correct, distinguished. Nor do I find that this method put a curb upon La Varenne's imagination, a re- straint upon the expression of his individuaUty. He was a man of conscience, who wrote because he felt it right the pubhc should profit by his experience and share his knowledge. But though his style has greater elegance and restraint than Sir Kenelm Digby's or Lord Euth- ven's, it is as intimate and personal. " Bien que ma con- dition ne me rende pas capable d'un coeur heroique," he tells the Marquis d'Uxelles in a dedication that is state- liness itself, " elle me donne pourtant assez de ressente- ment poxu- ne pas oublier mon devoir; " and he concludes with the assurance that the entire work is but a mark of the passion with which he has devoted, and will ever de- vote, himself to the service of Monseigneur, whose very humble, very obedient, very grateful servant he is. Here and there in the text, he interrupts his technical direc- 95 tions for such a graceful little touch as the advice to gar- nish sweet dishes with the flowers that are in season, or the reminder that heed paid to any other such " petites curiosites " can but add to the honor and respect with which the great should be served. It is pleasant to find his successors profiting by these pretty hints, as well as by his masterly method. It was a distinct compliment to La Varenne, when Massialot, in the ISTouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits (1692; I only have it in the 1716 edition), gave one entire section as guide to the flowers in season, month by month, for the decoration of dishes, and another to the " delicate hqueurs," made from roses, violets, pinks, tuberoses, jas- mine, and orange flowers, for aU the year round. La Yarenne's book was an immediate and continued suc- cess. By 1652 there was a second edition, by 1654, a third. M. Yicaire counts seventeen before he finishes his hst. I have the fourth, published at the Hague by Adrian Ylacq and ranked by some collectors with La' Varenne's more famous Pastissier Francois in the Elzevir edition. The Cuisinier Franyois never fetched three thousand dollars. In special binding, it has gone up to over a hxm- dred, but ten is the average price quoted by bibliogra- 96 phers. I paid six for mine, bought, in the way Mr. Lang deplores, from a catalogue, without inspection. But I have no quarrel with the little duodecimo, yellow and worn, more than doubled in size by the paper of nearly the same date bound up with it. A few receipts in old German writing explain the object of this paper, but its owners, many or few, have left it mostly blank, the envy now of every etcher who sees it. I also dehght in a later edition, without a date, but published probably some- where between 1695 and 1715, by Pierre Mortier in Am- sterdam. It has a curious and suggestive frontispiece, an engraving of a fine gentleman dining at a table set directly in front of the kitchen fire, with the chef himself in attendance, and it includes other works attributed to La Varenne. One is Le Maistre d'Hostel et le Grand Ecuyer Tranchant, a treatise originally published in L'Eeole Parf aite des Officiers de Bouche, which was ap- propriated and translated into English by Giles Rose in 1682, with the same dramatic diagrams of trussed birds and skewered joints, the same wonderful directions for folding napkins into beasts and birds, " the mighty pretty trade " that, when it reached England, enraptured Pepys. Thanks to this volume, my works of La Varenne are 97 almost complete, if my editions, bibliographically, leave something to be desired. When Marin wrote his book, a little less than a hmidred years afterwards, the art had made strides forward in the direction of refinement and simplicity. Louis XIV. ate well, but the Eegent and Louis XY. ate better. It was probably due to the Grand Monarque's abnormal stomach, which, I have seen it stated, was discovered after death to be twice the average size, that a suspicion of barbarity lingered in his day. But with the return of the royal organ to normal limits quality triumphed over quantity. I have not forgotten that Dr. Johnson, when he visited France, declared the French kitchen gross. But then Dr. Johnson was not an authority in these matters. If the word of any Enghshman carries weight, I would rather quote a letter Kichard West wrote to Walpole in the very year that Marin's book was published, as a proof that the distinction between English and French ideals was much the same then as now. " I don't pretend," he says, " to compare our supper in London with your partie de cabaret at Eheims; but at least, sir, our materials were more sterling than yours. You had a goute forsooth, composed of des fraises, de la creme. 98 du vin, des gateaux, etc. We, sir, we supped a I'An- gloise. Imprimis, we had buttock of beef and Yorkshire ham; we had chicken, too, and a gallon bowl of sallad, and a gooseberry tart as big as anything." Might not that have been written yesterday ? But more eloquent testimony is to be had from the French themselves. Moderation ruled over those enchanting little feasts of theirs that, in memory, cannot altogether die : Madame Geoffrin's suppers for the elect, of chicken, spinach, and omelette ; Madame du Chatelet's with Voltaire at Cirey, " not abundant, but rare, elegant, and delicate," — and yet, it was Madame du Chatelet who rejoiced that God had given her a capacity for the pleasures of the table; a hundred others to us as irresistible. Or go to court, where the king's mistresses and courtiers were Yy'mg with one another in the invention of dishes graced with their own names, where even the more serious Queen played godmother to the dainty trifles we stiU know as Petites Bouchees a la Keine, where the famous tables vo- lantes recalled the prodigies of Cervio — there too bar- baric excess had gone out of fashion. I have space but for one example, though I could quote many as convin- cing, — Madame du Barry's dinner to the King: Coulis 99 de faisans; croustades du foie des lottes; salmis des be- cassines; pain de volaille a la supreme; poularde au cresson; ecrevisses au vin de Sauterne; bisquets de peches au Noyau ; creme de cerneaux ; — the dimier that won for the cook the first cordon Ueu. What an elegant simplicity compared to the haphazard profusion approved by Popes and Cardinals ! This simplicity rules in Marin's book. Throughout the three fat httle volumes, the method is beyond criticism. And he was more learned than La Yarenne, for whom I could wish, however, that his veneration had been greater. To make a point of dating the modern kitchen but thirty years back, when La Yarenne had been long in the grave, seems a dehberate insult. In the history of his art, prepared with the assistance of two accomplished Jesuits, and beginning with the first man who discovered the use of fire, he defines this modem kitchen as " chem- ical, that is, scientific." But for all his science, he did not disdain the graces of style, he did not forget he was an artist. Let the cook, he says, blend the ingredients in a sauce, as the painter blends the colors on his palette, to produce the perfect harmony : as pretty a simile as I can remember in any book in my collection, given as were 100 the chefs of all nations to picturesque phrasing. But a wider gulf than learning separates Les Dons de Comus from Le Cuisinier Fran§ois. La Yarenne's book was addressed to his fellow artists; Marin's was designed not only for the officers in great households, but for the little bourgeois, who, though limited in means, was wise enough to care for good eating. The idea did not origi- nate with him. As far back as 1691, Massialot had writ- ten his Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois (my edition unfor- tunately is 1714), the earhest book I know, it is but fair to add, in which the contents are arranged alphabetically: a plan copied by John Nott and John Middleton in Eng- land for their Cooks' and Confectioners' Dictionary, and by Briand, in France, for his Dictionnaire des Aliments (1750), a pretentious and learned work in three volumes. Next, Le Menage des Champs et de la Yille, ou Nou- veau Cuisinier Fran9ois (1710), considered all tastes, from those " des plus grands Seigneurs jusqu'a celles des bons Bourgeois," and was rewarded by being not only passed by the censor of the press, but recommended by him, in his official Approbation — a rare distinction. Neither of these books judged by its intrinsic merit could, however, compete with Les Dons de Comus. Marin was the genius 101 who, giving expression to the ideas of his time, made his treatise immediately the standard work on cookery. He was promptly flattered by wholesale imitation. In the Preface to the 1758 edition (which I have) he complains that in the twenty years since the first (which I have not), this compliment had been paid him with only too much sincerity. And, m truth, his followers did their best to capture his patron, the bourgeois, to borrow his weapons against artless extravagance, even to appropriate his similes. Menon's Science du Maitre d'Hotel Cuisinier (174:9) owes everything to Marin, to the very glibness with which the art not of painting, but of music, is held up as a guide to the cook in the composition of his ra- gouts, and this debt Marin is quick to admit. But, per- haps because he felt it too deeply, he says nothing of the more flagrant plagiarism in La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, which was addressed solely and entirely to the bourgeois of mediocre fortune, and so scored heavily ; while, re- membering Massialot, the author, with a stroke of genius denied to Marin, incorporated the idea in his title, an advertisement in itself. La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise ap- peared only six years after Les Dons de Comus, but in the competition that followed Marin was ecKpsed. Even 102 Mrs. Glasse's Art of Cookery, credited with the greatest sale of any book in the Enghsh language, was left far behind. M. Vicaire gives forty editions, and yet he does not know three out of my five. Studied under the last Bourbons, it was popular during the first Eepublic — An VI de la Republique is the date in one of my copies; fa- miliarly quoted by the Romanticists of 1830, the demand for it had not ceased in 1866, when the last edition I know of was issued. It was one of the first cookery books that appealed primarily to the people, and the peo- ple responded by buying it during a hundred years and more. Even after praise of simplicity was in every mouth, there were relapses. Thus, Menon, who wrote also a Maitre d'Hotel Confiseur (1788, my edition, the second), de- nounces the old elaborate edifices of pastry and sugar, overloaded with ornament and grotesque in design, only to evolve, out of the same materials, gardens with trees and urns, or classical balustrades with figures of Diana, Apollo, and JEneas, or temples of Circe, with Ulysses, pigs and all. " Quel agreable coup d'ceil ! " he exclaims in ecstasy, " quel gout 1 Quelle aimable symetrie ! " But it was just such masterpieces, just such exceptions to 103 the new rule, that encouraged French physicians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to write on food from the hygienic point of view, as Bruyerin already had in Latin, and Castor Durante in Itahan. La Varenne and Marin, Menon and Massialot, did not bother about sovereign powders and patent pills in the way of Eng- lish writers on cookery. It was left to doctors to dogma- tize on their own art, and lay down the rules for " rhu- barb and sobriety." Louis Lemery, physician to Louis XIY., pubhshed in 1702 a Traite des Aliments, dedicated to M. Boudin, physician to the Dauphin, a treatise trans- lated into Enghsh, and, in the translation, passing through several editions, Li 1743, Bruzen de la Marti- nieres translated the old verses on the medical properties of meat and drink by John of Milan, a doctor, changing the title of the earher translations, L'Art de se passer de Medecin, into the more literally true L'Art de Conser- ver sa Sante. In 1789, Jourdain Le Cointe published La Cuisine de Sante, a large book in three volumes, revised by a fellow physician of Montpelier, and, could Le Cointe have had his way, France would have been as barren of sauces as England in Yoltaire's epigram. All these books I have, and I am not sure that I ought not to count 104 with them M. de Blegny's Bon Usage du The, du Gaffe et du Chocolat (1687), since its end was the preservation of health and the cure of disease, De Blegny was Con- seiller Medecin Artiste ordinaire du Roy et de Monsieur, and his book, charmingly illustrated in the fashion of the old Herbals, is dedicated to Messieurs les Doeteurs en Medecine des Facultes Provincialles et Etrangeres prac- tiquant a la Cour et a Paris. If the French have got over the fancy that coffee and chocolate are medicines, throughout the provinces in France tea is still the drink that cures, not cheers. It is as well the books of the nineteenth century do not enter into my present scheme. There would be too much to say of the new development in the hterature of cook- ery that began toward the end of the eighteenth, with Grimod de la Eeyniere, the EusMn of the kitchen, A new era opened with his Almanach des Gourmands; a new school of writers was inaugurated, which, before it was exhausted, had counted Brillat Savarin, the Marquis de Cussy, and Dumas Pere among its masters. In the books of other countries my poverty is more marked. I have but two or three German works, none of special note. I have nothing American earlier than 105 1805, but then comes an irresistible little volume bris- tling with patriotism, proclaiming independence in its very cakes. I have nothing Hungarian, Eussian, Portu- guese, or Dutch. A manuscript Romany cookery book, compiled by Mr. Leland, the Romany Rye, makes up as a curiosity for many omissions. The only other country with a definite cookery literature that contributes to my shelves is Spain, and that, merely to the extent of a dozen volumes. These are spoils brought home by my husband from a tour of the old bookshops of Madrid and Toledo. Few of my treasiires do I prize more than the Arte de Cocina, though it is in the fifteenth edition, with the date on the title-page provoMngly effaced. The first edition was published in 1617, and its author was Fran- cisco Martinez Montino, Cocinero Mayor del Rey — this particular Rey being none other than Philip TV. Here, then, you may learn what the Spaniard ate in the days when Velasquez painted. As yet, the facts I have gleaned are few, my Spanish being based chiefly on that comprehensive first phrase in Meisterschaft, which, though my pagsport through Spain, can hardly carry me through Spanish literature. I can make out enough, however, to discover that Montino, in the fashion of the 106 ItaKan writers of the Eenaissance, supplies menus for great occasions, but that he had not forestalled the French in writing with method. His book is a hodge-podge, Por- tuguese, Enghsh, German, and Moorish dishes thrown together anyhow, the whole collection ending unexpect- edly with a soup. But his pious Laus Deo on the last page covers many sins, and his index shows a desire for the system he did not know how to achieve. 'No less in- teresting is the I^uevo Arte de Cocina, by Juan Alti- miras. Thanks, I suppose, to the law of compensation, while my Montiiio is in the fifteenth edition, my copy of Altimiras is dated 1760, though M. Yicaire knows none earher than 1791. It has the attraction, first, of vellum covers with leather strings still in condition to be tied, and, next, of an edifjdng dedication to San Diego de Alcala, — Santo Mio is the author's familiar manner of address, and he makes the offering from the affectionate heart of one who hopes to enjoy the saint's company some day in heaven. After this, it is not surprising that the work should have been approved by high officials in the king's kitchen, and that a point is made of Lenten dishes and monastic menus. My remaining Spanish books, in comparison, seem com- NUEVO ARTE DE COCINA, S ACADO DE LA ESCUELA DE LA EXPERIENCIA ECONOMICA. SU AUTOR JVAN ALTIMIRAS, DEDICALE A SAN DIEGO DE ALCALA EN MADRID. For Antonio Perez de Soto. Ano de 1760. A txpenfas it Don feiro Jofefh Altnfoy Padilla , Li- hero de Camnrfi del Rey , dende fe hazard. 107 monplace. There is a little Arte de Eeposteria, by Juan de la Mata, Madrid, 1791, a small quarto in vellum covers that gives a whole chapter to the Aguas Heladas de Frutas, still one of the joys of Spain, and a recipe for Gazpachos, still one of its wonders. There is the Di- sertacion en Recomendacion y Def ensa del Famoso Vino Malagueno Pero Ximen, Malaga, 1792, with a wood-en- graved frontispiece that looks like the beginning of the now familiar cigar-box labels. But the other big and little volmnes are of too late a date for my present pur- poses. Many are translations of the French books of 1830, and they reproduce even the lithographs and other illustrations published in the original works. Of course, it will be understood that I write solely of the books in my own collection, which I am not foolish enough to represent as exhaustive. Indeed, if I were, M. Vicaire's Bibliography would betray me at once. But for the collector the evil hour is when, folding his hands, he must admit his task completed. As long as there are gaps on my shelves, life will still hold the pos- eibihty of emotion. BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE It will be understood, of course, that I do not aim at an exhaustive Bibliography. I have attempted nothing more ambitious than a list of my own books, and even that within hmits. I have thought it better, and more in keeping with the text, to bring it no fur- ther down than to the end of the Eighteenth Century. For this reason, I have omitted Eighteenth Century books that I have only in Nineteenth Century editions, and also modern reprints of early MSS. I have made an exception in favor of Grimod de la Reyniere's Almanach des Gourmands, simply because it marks the beginning of the new period, and helps to explain the limits I have deUberately set myself. Some day, I may be able to make as worthy a record of my Nineteenth Century books. BIBLIOGRAPHY LATIN APICIUS COELIUS. Apitii Celii de re Coquinaria libri decern. Suetonius Traquillus De Claris Gramaticis. Suetonius Traquillus De Claris Rhetoribus. {In fine:) Impressum Venetiis per SernardinumVenetum. It has no date, but is attributed to about 1486. Given as earli- est edition by most authorities. 4to, old vellum. 30 sheets, the pages not numbered. APICIUS COELIUS. Apicius Culinarius. {In fine:) Impressum Mediolani per magistrwm Guilermum, Signerre Rothomagensem. Anno dAi. Mcccclxxxxviii. die. xx. mensis Januarii. First dated edition, 4to. Half calf. 40 sheets, pages not numbered. This copy has on fly-leaf the book plate of " Georgius Klotz, M. D. Francofurti ad Moenum," and the autograph of "John S. Blackie, 1862." 112 APICroS COELIUS. Apicii Coelii de Opsoniis et Condimentis, Sive Arte Co- quinaria, Libri Decern. Cum Annotationibus Martini Lister, e Medicis domesticis Serenissimae Majestatis Re- ginae Annae, et ISTotis selectioribus, variisque lectionibus integris, Humelbergii, Barthii, Eeinesii, A Van Der Linden, & Aliorum, ut & Variarum Lectionum Libello. Editio Secunda, Longe auctior atque emendatior. Amstelodami, Apud Janssonio- Waesbergios 1709. 8vo, half calf. Frontispiece, engraving on copper, by J. Goeere. Dedica- tion, Preface, and Preliminary, 17 leaves + PP- 277 + Variae Lectiones, pp. 18, not numbered + Index pp. 25, not numbered. BEUYERINTJS CAMPEGIUS. De He Cibaria Libri XII Omnium Cibormn genera, om- nium gentium moribus, & usu probata complectentes, lo Bruyerino Campegio Lugdun authore, Prima Editio. Zdtgduni, Apud Sebast. Monoratum. 1560 Cum Privilegio Re- gio. 8vo, old vellum, the name and date in Uluminated letter- ing by Mr. Leland on back. Dedication and Index, 11 Leaves +pp. 1130. On last page, not numbered, after Finis : JAcgduni suis typis excudebat NICOLAUS EDOARDUS, CAMPANUS M.D.LX. On inserted leaves, the inscription : " To Mrs. Joseph Pennell. . . . With kind regards of Charles G. Leland, Flor- ence, Deer. 25th 1901. A Christmas offering." 2) 5 RE CIBARIA LI BRI XXII OMNIVM CIBORVM gcncra,omnium gentium mo- ribiiSj&vfu probata comple(5tcntcs, l9.Sruyerifta Campegio Lugdun authore, P R-I M A E D 1 T I O. L VGDVNT, APVD SEBAST. HONO RATVM, M. D. L X. Cum Pciuilcgio Rcgto. 113 CUETIUS, MATTHAEUS. Matthaei Curtii Papiensis de Prandii Ac Caenae Modo libellus. Romae. Apud Pavlum Manutium, Aldi F. Cum privilegio Pii nil. Pont. Max. 1562. 4to, unbound. Title and Dedication, 1 leaf + blank, 1 leaf + pp. 90. CEYOLI, MAEIA FRANCISCO. Juris Evidentiae Demonstratio in Materia Alimentorum, et Sxmiptuiim Litis. Floreniiae, 1703. Apud Petrum Matini Archiepisc. Typo- graph. Superiorum permiss. 4to, old vellum, with title ia old lettering on back, and on front in illuminated lettering, by- Mr. Leland. Genealogical table and Synopsis, pp. iv + pp. 72 + Index, pp. xxiv. On inserted leaf, the inscription : " To Mrs. Joseph PenneU. This book, very remotely aUied to the art of cookery, yet one concerning nourishment, is presented with the kind regards of Charles Godfrey Leland. Florence, Feb. 14, 1902." ITALIAI^^ MESSIBUGO, CHRISTOFAEO DI. Libro N'ovo !N"el Qual s' Insegna A Far D' Ogni sorte di vivanda secondo la diversita de' tempi, cosi di carne come di pesce ne'l modo d'ordinar banehetti, apparecchiar 114 tavole fornir palazzi, & ornar camere per ogni gran Precipe. Opera assai bella, e molto Bisognevole a maestri di Casa, a Scalchi a Credenzieri, & a Cuochi. Composta per M. Christofaro di Messibugo & hora di novo stampata, con la sua Tavola ordinata, ove agevol- mente si trovar a ogni cosa. In Venetia Al Segno di San Oirolamo. 1552. 8vo, in vellum, evidently a page torn from an old illuminated MS. Wood- cut of kitchen on title page. Dedication and Errori, 2 leaves + 115 leaves, the numbers repeated on last three, + Table of Contents, 6 leaves. SCAPPI, BAETOLOMEO. Opera Di M. Bartolomeo Scappi, Cuoco Secreto Di Papa Pio Quinto, Divisa in Sei Libri. Nel prime si contiene il ragionamento che fa 1' Autore con Gio. suo disce- polo. Nel secondo si tratta di diverse vivande di carne, si di quadrupedi, come di volatili. IS^el terzo si parla della statura, e stagione de pesci. IS^el quarto si mo- strano le liste del presentar le vivande in tavola, cosi di grasso come di magro. Nel quinto si contiene V ordine di far diverse sorti di paste, & altre lavori. Nel sesto, & ultimo libro si ragiona de' convalescenti, & molte altre sorti di vivande per gli infermi. Con il discorso fune- {jirji,it» con i'lurftriiii' ffi*fir*Ns..N % 'I ) 'ij Aljl... 7*t. il' • - r^-'---^^ 5 torchio u /^P^ — B-... ^ ^f,.T^^^.,^f»m,TM^ >.^^rT^^,TOt i-^Vr ,nET,,v^.nj^ „,^ \, i',i.roio^i' *i^^ 5 i f; J. t- <^ /^ '''^''^'i'j'ii'v,o;'<:SJ» ; njiliill'":' '■'■■■ ""^L'i!!'r:"'3''\P;^^f fpr^u-ri H-^ l^ ^^T^-, /.: J. C'criz 1?^ 7 A r T(v>mi-*i<«1"<'\'l iv ■^W'^Vt;.[^t'l^]p-p»>ffjSp^(<}[f^-(fffj^f»Wf|^ (w!w»s^'»'«3j*(r^«" -vr^r^l^^^j^'Ay ^ y «L(^^»f^ 115 rale che fu f atto nelle essequie di Papa Paulo III. Con le figure che fanno bisogno iiella cucina, & alii Eeve- rendissimi nel Conclave. First Edition. Col privilegio dd Sommo Pontefice Papa Pio V. & dell JMii- striss. Senato Veneto per atmi X^X. 1570. The name of the publisher, JVIichiel Tramezino, appears in Concession on first and second leaf. 4to, in old vellum, with old lettering on back. Concession and Dedications, 4 leaves + engraved portrait of Scappi + 372 leaves. Then follow 4 leaves of explanation of the engravings, and 27 engravings on copper of the kitchen and kitchen utensUs. This copy has on inside of cover the book plate of " WiUiam Horatio Crawford, Lakelands, Cork." SCAPPI, BAETOLOMEO. Opera Di M. Bartolomeo Scappi, Cuoco Secreto Di Papa Pio Quinto, etc. Jn Venetia, 1598. Appresso Alessandro Vecchi. 4to, in modern calf. Frontispiece, unsigned engraving on copper, portrait of Scappi. Concession and Dedication, 2 leaves + 4 woodcuts of kitchen and kitchen utensDs + 311 leaves. This copy has, written on fly-leaf : " George Augustus Sala, Brighton, 1880. Note the curious engravings of culinary utensils. I cannot find any directly poisonous recipes among the formulas of the ' Cuoco Secreto.' Possibly they never passed out of the MS. form." Sala's autograph and "46 Mecklenburgh Square, W. C.,May 1st, 1884," on title page. 116 KOMOLI, DOMENICO. La Singolare Dottrina di M. Domenico Eomoli sopra- nominato Panunto, Dell' ufficio dello Scalco, dei condi- menti di tutte le vivande, le stagioni che ei convengono a tutti gli animali, vecelli, & pesci, Banchetti di ogni tempo, & mangiare da apparecchiarsi di di, in di, per tutto 1' anno a Preneipi. Con la dichiaratione della qualita delle carni di tutti gli animali, & pesci, & di tutte le vivande circa la sanita. Nel fine vm breve trat- tato del reggimento della sanita. Opera sonrmamente utile a tutti. Col Privilegio del Sonimo Pontefice, & delV lUustr. Senato Veneto per anni XX. 1560. 8 vo, in old vellum. Title, Dedi- cation, Table of Contents, etc., 16 leaves + 376 leaves. DURANTE, CASTOR. H Tesoro della Sanita, Di Castor Durante da Gualdo, Medico, & Cittadino Romano. Nel quale s' insegna il modo di conservar la Sanita, & prolungar la vita, et si tratta Della Natura De' Cibi, & de' Rimedij de' nocu- menti lore. Con la Tavola Delle Cose Notabili. In Venetia, 1586, Appresso Andrea Muschio. 8vo, old vel- lum. Title, sub-title. Dedication, etc., Table of Contents, 8 leaves + pp. 328. On inserted leaf, inscription: "To Mrs. J. 117 PennelL 11 Tesoro della Sanita. Venice, A. D. 1586. This rare work is, notwithstanding its title, simply a Cook-Book, treatiag of the different kinds of food and their preparations. It is curious as containing poems on every subject of which it treats. Charles G. Leland." DURANTE, CASTOR. II Tesoro della Sanita Di Castor Durante da Gualdo, etc. In Venetia, Appresso JJucio Spineda. 1605. 8vo, in old vellum. Title, sub-title. Dedication, Table of Contents, etc., 8 leaves + PP- 324. On inserted leaf, inscription: " II Tesoro Sanita. To Mrs. Joseph Pennell, with kind regards of Chas. G. Leland, etc., etc." CERVIO, VEN^CEN^ZO. H Trinciante Di M. Yincenzo Cervio, Ampliato et A Perfettione ridotto dal Cavalier Reale Fusoritto da Narni, Gia Trinciante dell' Illustrissimo & Reveren- dissimo Signor Cardinal Parnese, & al presente dell' Illustriss. Signor Cardinal Mont'alto. Con diverse aggiunte f atte dal Cavalier Reale, & dall' istesso in questa ultima Impressione, aggiuntovi nel fine un breve Dialogo detto il Mastro di Casa, per governo d' una Casa di qual si voglia Principe con li Offitialinecessarij, utile & giovevole a ogni Cortigiano. 118 Con Privilegio del Sommo Pontefice, e lAcenza c?e' Superiori Ad Istanza di Giidio Burchioni. In Roma. Nella Stampa del Gabbia. 1593. 4to, in old vellum. My copy incomplete to page 14. In aU, pp. 162. At the end, Begistro. -\- A B C D E F G H I K L. Tutti sono quaderni, eccetto che & duerno, & Iterno, & K duerno. In Roma. Nella Stampa del Gahhia. 1593. On inserted leaf, inscription : " Presented to Mrs. Joseph PeimeU, With kindest regards of Charles G. Leland. Florence May 26th 1898." MAGRI, DOMENICO. Yirtu Del Kafe Bevanda Introdotta ISTuovamente Nell' Italia. Con alcune osseryationi per conservar la sanita nella vecchiaia. All' Eminentissimo Signer Cardinal Brancacci. Seconda Impressione Con aggiunta del medesimo Autore. In Roma Per Michde Hercole. Con licenza cfe' Superiori. A ^ese di Giovanni Casone, aW Insegna di S. Paolo. 1671. 4to, un- bound. Pp. 16. The name of the author appears only on page 9. DB LA VARENNE, FRAKgOIS PIEREE. B Cuoco Francese Ove e Insegnata La maniera di condire ogni sorte di Yivande, E di fare ogni sorte di Pasticeierie, e di Confetti, Conforme le quattro Stagion deir Anno. Per il Signer De La Varenne Cuoco Mag- 119 giore Del Sig. Marches. D'Uxelles, Trasportato Nuova- mente dal Francese all' Italiana favella. In Yenetia. Per Lorenzo Baseggio. Con Lice. dS 8up. 1703. 12ino, in vellum. Title and Table of Contents, 12 leaves + pp. 420. On inserted leaf, the inscription : " To Mrs. J. Pen- nell, With kindest regards of Charles G. Leland. Florence. March 28th 1897. Entirely bound by the donor ! A curious and very rare work from old sources. It contains valuable recipes in sweets, e.g. how to candy violets and other flowers." On second inserted leaf : " Fon tiro kamlo Kako, se akovo delaben C. G. L." LEONARDI, FRAJ^CESCO. H Pasticciere AH' Uso Moderno, E Sul Gusto Del Pre- sente Secolo Dato in Luce Da Francesco Leonardi, Gia' Cuoco di Sua Maesta' Caterina 11. Imperatrice di tutte le Russie. In Firenze. Presso Giuseppe Lmhi in Faccia cd Fisco. Con Approvazione, 1797. 12mo, in parchment by Mr. Leland. Pp. 272. On inserted leaf, the inscription : " Mrs. J. Pennell, with kindest regards of Charles G. Leland, etc." LEOITARDI, FRANCESCO. Apicio Moderno Di Francesco Leonardi. Edizione Se- conda, Reyista, Corretta, ed Accresciuta Dall' Autore. 120 In Roma. Nella Stamperia del Giunchi, presso Carlo Mbrdae- chini. Con Approvazione. 1807. 6 vols. 8vo, in parchment by Mr. Leland. In Vol. I : Title page, Preface, etc., pp. LVIII. + pp. 296. On inserted leaf, the inscription : " To Mrs. Joseph PenneU, With kindest regards of Charles G. Leland, as a seasonable Christmas offering. Florence Dec. 25, 1897." LEONAEDI, FKANCESCO. Gianina ossia La Cuciniera Delle Alpi, Di Francesco Leonardi. Roma. Con lAcenza /n J 123 cine de Paris, de 1' Academic Eoyale des Sciences. First Edition. A Paris, Ckez J. JB. Cusson et P. Witte, rue S. Jacques, au Norm de Jesus & au Bon Pasteur, vis d vis la rue du Pldtre. Avec Approbations <& Privilege du Roy. 1702. Small 8vo, old calf. Titles, Dedication, Preface, etc., 28 leaves + pp. 541 + Extrait du Registre, etc., 1 leaf. MASSIALOT. Le Nouveau Ciiisinier Royal et Bourgeois; Qui Ap- prend a Ordonner Toute sorte de Rep as en gras & en maigre, & la meilleure maniere des Ragouts les plus delicats & les plus a la mode, & toutes sortes de Patis- series: avec des nouveaux desseins de Tables. Ou- vrage tres-utile dans les Families, aux Maitres d'Hotels & Officiers de Cuisine. A Paris. Chez Claude Prudhomme, au Palais, au sixieme Pilier de la Grand'' SaUe, vis-d-vis VEcalier de la Cour des Aides, d la Bonne-Foy couronnee. Avec Privilege du Roy. 1714. 2 vols. (Vol. II of my copy missing). Small 8 vo, old calf. Title, Preface, etc., 4 leaves + pp. 491 + Table des Mets, 11 leaves. 11 Plates. DESTRUCTION, NOUYELLE. lEouvelle Instruction Pour les Confitures, Les Liqueurs, 124 et les Fruits : Ou I'on apprend a confire toute sorte de Fruits, tant sees que liquides, & divers Ouyrages de Sucre qui sont du fait des Officiers & Confiseurs; avee la maniere de bien ordonner un Fruit. Suite du Nou- veau Cuisinier Koyal et Bourgeois, egalement utile aux Maitres-d'Hotels, & dans les Families, pour S9avoir ce qu'on sert de plus a la mode dans les Repas. Nouvelle Edition, revue, corrigee & beaucoup augmentee. Avee de nouveaux Desseins de Table. A Paris, Chez Claude Prudhomme, au Palais, au sixieme Pilier de la Chand^ Salle, vis-d-vis VEscalier de la Cour des Aides, d, la Bonne- Foy couronnee. Avee Privilege du Soy. 1716. Small 8vo, old calf. Title, Preface, and Table, 6 leaves + PP- 464 + Table des Matieres, Approbation, etc., 13 leaves. 3 plates. LIGEE, LOUIS (Attributed to). Le Menage des Champs et de la Yille; ou nouveau Cuisinier Fran9ois, Accommode au gout du Tems. Con- tenant tout ce qu'un parf ait Chef de Cuisine doit s§avoir pour servir toutes sortes de tables, depuis celles des plus grands Seigneurs jusqu'a celles des bons BoiU"geois, avee une instruction pour faire toutes sortes de Patisseries, confitures seches & liquides, & toutes les differentes 125 liqueurs qiu sont aujourd'hui en usage. IS'ouvelle Edition. A Paris, Chez Christ. David, Lihraire-Imprimeur, rue 8. Jacq. prh la Fontaine S. Severin, au JVbm de Jesus. Avec Privilege du Roi. 1739. 8vo, half calf. Title, Preface, Table, etc., 6 leaves + pp. 473 + Table des Matieres, 4 leaves. On inside of cover, book plate of " Walter Charles James." DICTIONAIEE DES ALIMENS. Dictionaire des Alimens, Yins et Liqueurs, Leur Qual- ites, Leurs Effets, relativement aux differens ages, & aux differens temperamens; Avec La Maniere de les Appreter, Ancienne et Moderne, Suivant la methode des plus habiles Chef s-d' Office & Chefs de Cuisine, de la Cour, & de la Yille. Ouvrage tres-utile dans toutes les families. Par M. C. D. Chef de Cuisine de M. le Prince de * * * A Pari^. Chez CHssey, rue de la Yieille £ouclerie. Bordelet, rue Saint Jacques. Avec Approbation dt Privilege du Poi. On page xxviii, De Vlmprimerie de GHssey. 1750. 3 vols. 12nio, old calf. In Vol. I, Titles, Preface, etc., pp. xxviii + pp. 538 + Approbation, etc., 1 leaf. On inserted leaf, the inscription : "To Mrs. J. Pennell this book is presented with the kindest regards of her uncle : Charles G. Leland. Florence, Sept. 27, 1901." 126 ECOLE DE SALERNE, L'. L'Art de Conserver Sa Saute, Compose par L'Ecole de Salerne. Traduction nouvelle en Vers Frangois, Par Mr.B. L. M. A Paris, Par la Compagnie des lAbraires. 1753. 8vo, in boards. Pp. 104 + Table, 2 leaves. My copy bound up with " La Cochlioperie," 1808. MARIN. Les Dons de Comus, ou L'Art de la Cuisine, Reduit en Pratique, ISTouvelle Edition, Revue, corrigee & aug- mentee par I'Auteur. A Paris, Chez Pissot, Libraire, Quai de Conti, ct la Croix d' Or, d, la descente du Pont Neuf, au coin de la Rue de Nevers. Avec Approbation et Privilege du Boi. 1758. 3 vols. 12mo, old calf. Frontispiece engraving on copper by Le Bas. In Vol. I : Avis and Preface, pp. xlviii + pp. 490. CHAMBRAY, G. DE. L Art de Cultiver les Pommiers, les Poiriers, et de Faire des Cidres Selon I'usage de la Normandie. Par M. le Marquis de Chambray. A Paris, Chez Oaneau, rue Saint- Severin, prh VEglise, avx armes de Dombes & d Saint-Louis. Avec Permission. 1765. L* A R T DE CONSERVER SA SANTE, CO M P O S t ? A K L'feCOLE DE SALERNE. Tnidudbioo nouvelle EN VERS FRANCOIS, Par Mr. B. L. M. K PARIS. Par la Compagnie des Libraires. M. OCC. LIIL 127 Small 8vo, old calf. Title and Preface, 2 leaves + pp. 66 + Approbation, 1 leaf. Bound up with my copy, "M6moire sur les Pommes de Terre, par M. Mustel," Rouen, de V Imprimerie de la Veuve Besongne, 1767; "Lettre. . . . Au sujet de la Culture des Pommes de Terre," Rouen, Chez Et. Vine. Machuel, 1770; "Traite sur L'Acacia," Bordeaux, Chez les Frlres La- hottiere, 1762 ; and "L'Art de Cultiver les Peupliers d'ltalie," Paris, Chez la Veuve d'lToury, 1762. CUISINIEEE BOUEGEOISE, LA. La Ciusiniere Bourgeoise, Suivie de L'Office. A I'usage de tous ceux qui se melent de depensee de Maisons. Contenant la maniere de dissequer, connoitre & servir toutes sortes de Viandes, !Nouvelle Edition. Augmentee de plusieurs ragouts des plus nouveaux, & de differentes Eecettes pour lee Liqueurs. A Paris, Chez P. ChiiUaume Cavdier, lAhraire, Rue S. Jacques, auLysd'Or. 1777. 8vo, old calf. Title and Preface, 2 leaves + pp. 418. CUISINLEEE BOUEGEOISE, LA. La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, Suivie de I'Office, a L'Usage de Tous Ceux Qui Se Melent de Depenses de Maisons. Contenant la maniere de connoitre, dissequer & servir toutes sortes de viandes; des avis interessans sur leur 128 bonte & sur le choix qu'on en doit faire. La fagon de faire des Menus pour les quatre Saisons, & des Eagouts des plus nouveaux; une explication de termes propres &, a I'usage de la Cuisine & de 1' Office; & une Liste alphabetique des ustensiles qui y sont necessaires. ISow- velle Edition, augmentee de plusieurs apprets qui sont marques par une Etoile. A £ruxeUes, Chez Franfois Foppens, Imprimeur lAbraire. 1779. 2 vols. 8vo, paper covers. In Vol. I : Avertissement, Explication, etc. Pp. xxiv + pp. 320. CUISmiEEE BOURGEOISE, LA. La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, [etc. Title the same as in 1777 edition.] A Paris, Chez les lAbraires Associes. 1786. 8vo, old calf. Title and Preface, 3 leaves + pp. 372. CUISIKIERE BOURGEOISE, LA. La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, [etc. Title same as in 1777 edition.] A Paris, Chez Andre, Imprimeur-Libraire, rue de la Harpe, No. 477. An VI de la Republique. 8vo, paper boards, with title on back in illuminated lettering by Mr. Leland. Pp. 408. On leaf inserted, the inscription: " To Mrs. Joseph Pennell, L A CUISINIERE BOURGEOISEy S U I V 1 E DE L- OFFICE A I'ufage de tons ceux qiri fe melent de depenfes de Mailbns. Conunant la maniere de diffequer , eonnottre & fervirtoutix fortes deViandes , NOUVELLE EDITION. Augmentee de plufieurs ragoilts des plus nou. veaux , & de differentes Recettes pour lea Liqueurs. A PARIS, Ch« p. GuiLLAUME Caveljer , Libraifc > Rue S. Jacques, au Lys d'Or. M. DCC. L XXVII. 129 with love of Uncle Charles G. Leland; Florence, April 24, 1902. A good clean copy of the Standard French Cook-book — the Preface is extremely clever." CUISDrtEEE BOURGBOISB, LA. La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise [etc. — same title as 1777 edition, to] Derniere Edition, Augmentee de plusieurs ragouts des plus nouveaux, et de differentes recettes pour les liqueurs, avec une explication par ordre alpha- betique, des termes en usage pour la Cuisine et I'Office. A Lyon, Chez Amabk Leroy, Imprimeur-Libraire. 1802. 8vo, in paper boards. Title and Preface, pp. vi + pp. 384. On inserted leaf, the inscription : " To Mrs. Joseph Pennell, with kind regards of Charles G. Leland, Florence, May 28, 1897." La Science du Maitre D'Hotel, Confiseur, a L'Usage des Officiers, Avec des Observations Sur la connois- sance & les proprietes des Fruits. Enrichie de Des- eeins en Decorations & Parterres pour les Desserts. Suite du Maitre d'Hotel Cuisinier. Nouvelle Edition, revne et corrigee. A Pans. Par la Compagnie des lAhraires assodes. Avec Approbation et Privilege du Moi. At the end, De V Imprimerie 130 de Valleyre jeune. 1788. 8vo, in old calf. Title and Preface, pp. X + Premier Plan, etc., 1 leaf + pp. 525 + Tables, 13 leaves. 5 plates. MENON. La Science du Maitre-D'Hotel Cuisinier, Avec Des Observations sur la Connoissance & les proprietes des Alimens. JS^ouvelle Edition, revue et corrigee. A Paris, Chez Les Libraires Associes. Avec Approbation et Privilege du Roi. 1789. 8vo, in old calf. Title and Disser- tation Preliminaire, pp. xxiv + pp. 554. LE COINTE, JOUEDAN. La Cuisine de Sante, Ou Moyens f aciles & economiques de preparer toutes nos Productions Alimentaires de la maniere la plus delicate & la plus salutaire, d'apres les nouvelles decouvertes de la Cuisine Fran^oise & Ita- lienne. Par M. Jourdain le Cointe, Docteur en Mede- cine; revu par un Practicien de Montpellier. Ouvrage destine a I'instruction des Gens de I'Art, a 1' amuse- ment des Amateurs & particulierement a la conservation de la Sante. A Paris, Chez Briand, Lihraire, Hotel de ViJUers, 'rue Pavee Saint-Andre-des-Arts. 1789. 3 vols. 8vo, half calf. In Vol. I : pp. 465. 1 plate. 131 SEYIS^IEEE, GEIMOD DE LA. ilmanach des Gourmands, ou Calendrier Nutritif Ser- rant de Guide dans les Moyens de Faire Excellente 3here; Suivi de I'ltineraire d'un Gourmand dans divers [uartiers de Paris, et de quelques Yarietes morales, lutritives, Anecdotes gourmandes, etc. Par un Yieux ^ateur. Seconde Edition revue et corrigee. A Paris. Chez Maradan, rue JPavee- Saint- Andre-des- Arts. iVb. 16. ^w XZ — 1803. 8 Vols. — from 1803 to 1812; in 1809, no number was published. 8vo, paper covers. In Vol. I: Title, Avis, etc., pp. viii + pp. 247. On inserted leaf, the inscription in verse : — Autolyc Soul I above brunette or blondness, Fondest of food, and fittest food for fondness, Who dost with thy divinely greedy art Win that within that 's underneath the heart, Accept — it leaves thee still my liver's creditor — This grace of greed from thy eupeptic Editor. H. C. liEY^IEEE, GEIMOD DE LA. Manuel des Amphitryons; contenant un Traite de la )issection des viandes a table, la ^Nomenclature des ilenus les plus nouveaux pour chaque saison, et des Clemens de Politesse gourmande. Ouvrage indispen- able a tous ceux qui sont jaloux de faire bonne chere. 182 et de la f aire f aire aux autres ; Orne d'un grand nombre de Planches gravees en taille-douce. Par I'Auteur de I'Almanach des Gourmands. A Paris, Chez Capelle et Henand, lAbraires- Commissionnaires, rue J. J. Bousseau. 1808. 8to, old calf. Frontispiece, etch- iag. Pp. 384. 16 etched plates. Inside the cover, the book plate of " Albert F. Sieveking." ENGLISH MAEKHAM, GEEYASE. The English Housewife. Containing The inward and outward Yertues which ought to be in a compleate Wo- man. As her sMll in Physicke, Surgery, Cookery, Ex- traction of Oyles, Banqueting stuffe, Ordering of great Feasts, Preserving of all sorts of "Wines, Conceited Secrets, Distillations, Perfumes, ordering of Wooll, Hempe, Flax, making Cloth, and Dying, the knowledge of Dayries, office of Malting, of Gates, their excellent uses in a Family, of Brewmg, Baking, and all other things belonging to an Houshold. A Worke generally approved, and now the fourth time much augmented, purged and made most profitable and necessary for all men, and the generall good of this Kingdome. By G. M. THE E NG LlSH H O V S E-^W 1 F E. CONTAINING The inward and outward Vermes which ought to be in a complcatc Woman. qJs hsrskiUin^hyfici^e, Surgery, QooJ^ry* Extradion of Oy Ics, Banqueting ftuffc^ Ordering of great Feafts^Prefcruing of all forts of Wines ,Concci- tedSecrets,Difiill/imas:^Perf(imtSfirderwgofW0o9y Hempe, Flax, making Cloth, and Dying, the know- ledge ofDayries, office of Malting, ofOates, iheir^xcelknt vfes in a Family,of Brew- ing, faking, and all other things belonging to an Houftiold. A Worke generally approued , and nov^ the fourth time mudh augmented, purged and made mofl profitable and neceHTary for all men , and the generallgood ofthi&Kingdome. By G, M. LON DON, Printed by NichoUs okes for John Hartsoh, andarcfe be fold at his fhop at-the fignc of the golden Vnicorac ia Pater, noftcr-row i^ji. 183 London, Printed by Nicholas Okes for John Harison, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the golden Uhicome in Pater-noster-row. 1631. 4to, half calf. Title, Dedication, Table, 5 leaves + pp. 252. DELIGHTES FOE LADIES. Delightes for Ladies, to Adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets and Distillatories : With Beauties, Banquets, Perfumes and Waters, Read, practise, and censure. Ziondon, Printed byH.Yl and are to bee sold by James Poler. 1632. 12ino, old vellum. 96 leaves. Each page with a deco- rative border cut on wood. Title page of my copy much de- faced. Bound in same volume, CLOSET FOR LADIES, A. A Closet for Ladies and Gentlew^omen. Or, the Art of preserving. Conserving, and Candying. With the man- ner how to make divers kindes of Sirups, and all Mnde of banqueting stuffes. Also divers soveraigne Medi- cines and Salves for Sundry Diseases. Londcm, Printed by John Maviland. 1632. 96 leaves. The pages also with decorative border. MUFFETT, THOMAS. Healths Improvement: or. Rules Comprizing and Dis- 134 covering the Nature, Method, and Manner of Preparing all sorts of Food Used in this ISTation. Written by that ever Famous Thomas Muffett, Doctor in Physick: Cor- rected and Enlarged by Christopher Bennet, Doctor in Physick, and Fellow of the CoUedg of Physitians in London. London, Printed by Tho : JVewcomb for Samuel Thomson, at the sign of the White Horse in Pauls Churchyard. 1655. 4to, modern calf. Title, Epistle, Table, pp. 8 + pp. 296. MOFFET, THOMAS. Health's Improvement. . . . To which is now prefix' d, A short Yiew of the Author's Life and Writings by Mr Oldys, and An Introduction by R. James, M, D. London ; PritUedfor T. Osborne in Grray''s-Inn,Vl4:Q. 8vo, old calf. Title, Epistle to the Reader, etc., pp. xxxii + pp. 398. COMPLEAT COOK, THE. The Compleat Cook. Expertly prescribing the most ready wayes, Whether, Italian, Spanish, or French. For dressing of Flesh, and Fish, Ordering of Sauces, or making of Pastry. London : Printed for JVath. Brook at the Angel in Com^hill, 1655. 12mo, old calf. Pp. 123 + Table, 3 leaves. 133 CLOSET, THE QUEEN'S. The Queens Closet Opened. Incomparable Secrets in Physick, Chirurgery, Preserving, Candying, and Cook- ery; As they were presented to the Queen By the most Experienced Persons of our times, many whereof were honoured with her own practice, when she pleased to descend to these more private Recreations. Never before published. Transcribed from the true Copies of her Majesties own Receipt-Books, by W. M. one of her late servants. Printed for Nathaniel Brook, at the Angel in OomhiU, 1655. 12mo, half calf. Title and Dedication, 6 leaves + pp. 192. Bound up with it, DELIGHT, A QUEEN'S. A Queen's Dehght, or The Art of Preserving, Con- serving, and Candying; as also A right knowledge of making Perfvmies, and Distilling the most Excellent Waters. Never before published. Printed for Nathaniel Brook, at the Angel in Comhill. 1655. Continues pagination of Queen's Closet to 296. Table for both books, and Publisher's Advertisement, 12 leaves. 136 DELIGHT, A QUEEN'S. [The same, in separate volmne. Later edition.] London, Printed for Obadiah JBlagrave at the Sign of the black Bear in St. Pauls Churchyard. 1683. 12mo, modern calf. Pp. 106 + Table, 2 leaves. CLOSET, THE QUEEN'S. The Queen's Closet Opened. . . . Corrected and Re- viewed with many New and large Additions : together with three exact Tables. London. Printed by J. W. for Nath. Brooke, at the Angel in Gresham^ College, near the Exchange in Bishops- Gate- Street. 1668. 12mo, old calf. Frontispiece, engraving on copper, portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria. Portrait, title. To the Reader, etc., 6 leaves + pp. 191. RUTHVEN, PATRICK, LORD. The Ladies Cabinet Enlarged and Opened: Containing Many Rare Secrets and Rich Ornaments, of several kindes, and different uses. Comprized Under three gen- eral Heads. Viz. of, 1. Preserving, Conserving, Candy- ing, etc. 2. Physick and Chirurgery. 3. Cookery and Housewifery. Whereunto is added, Sundry Experi- ments and choice Extractions of Waters, Oyles, etc. pifJ' 1"^ 'Aflt'lji-oah'C . 'I 137 Collected and practised; By the late Eight Honorable and Learned Chymist, the Lord Ruthven. The second Edit, with Additions and A particular Table to each Part. London, Printed by T. M. for G. Bedell and T. CoUins at the middle- Temple Gate, Fleet-street. 1655. 12nio, old calf. Title, Dedication, etc., 4 leaves + pp. 252 + Table and Publisher's Advertisement, 8 leaves. MAT, ROBERT. The Accomplisht Cook, or the Art and Mystery of Cookery. Wherein the whole Art is revealed in a more easie and perfect Method, than hath been publisht in any Language. Expert and ready wayes for the Dress- ing of all sorts of Flesh, Fowl, and Fish; the Raising of Pastes; the best Directions for all manner of Kick- shaws, and the most Poinant Sauces ; with the Tearms of Carving and Sewing. An exact Account of all Dishes for the Season; with other A la mode Curiosities. Together with the lively Illustrations of such necessary Figures as are referred to Practice. Approved by the Fifty Years Experience and Industry of Robert May, in his Attendance on several Persons of Honour. 1S8 London. Printed by B. W. for Nath. Brooke, at the Sign of the Angel in CornhiU. 1660. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, por- trait of Robert May. Frontispiece, Title, Dedication, etc., 16 leaves + pp. 447 + Table and Publisher's Advertisement, 7 leaves. Numerous illustrations, woodcuts, printed with the text. (In my copy, pp. 291-292 missing.) MAY, EOBBET. The Accomplisht Cook etc. — The Fourth Edition. London, Printed for Obadiah Blagrave at the Bear in St Pauls Church-Yard, near the Little North-Door. 1678. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, same portrait. Frontispiece, Title, etc., 16 leaves + pp. 461 + Table and Publisher's Advertisement, 5 leaves. Illustrations in text and four folded plates. DIGBY, SIR KENELM. The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digby Kt. Opened: Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Sider, Cherry- Wine, etc. Together with Excellent Directions for Cookery: as also for Preserving, Conserving, Candying, etc. Published by his Son's Consent. London, Printed by E. G. & A. C. far H. Brome, of the West- End of St. PauVs. 1671. 8vo, in old calf . Title and Preface, 2 leaves + pp. 251 + Table, 4 leaves. My copy foUows, in ililil ecu' i6>^ C'/LciccL 6'z . 139 the same volume. Sir Kenelm Digby's " Receipts in Physick and Chirurgery," which has as frontispiece a portrait of the author, engraved by Gross. EABISHA, WILL. The whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught, and fully manifested. Methodically, Artificially, and accord- ing to the best Tradition of the English, French, Italian, Dutch, etc. Or, A Sympathy of all varieties in JSTatu- ral Compounds in that Mysterie. Wherein is contained certain Bills of Fare for the Seasons of the year, for Feasts and Common Diets. Wherunto is annexed a Second Part of Eare Receipts of Cookery: with cer- tain useful Traditions. With a book of Preserving, Conserving and Candying, after the most Exquisite and Xewest manner : Delectable for Ladies and Gentle- women. London. Printed for E. Calvert^ at the sign of the black Spread Eagle, at the West end of St. Pauls. 1673. 8vo, old calf. Title, Dedication, etc., 10 leaves + the Table, pp. 19, the first 12 not numbered, + pp. 289,+ Note to the Reader, etc., 3 leaves. WOOLLEY, HAira^AH. The Queen-Like Closet or Rich Cabinet. 140 Title-page and part of Dedication of my copy missing. 8vo, old calf. Pp. 344 + Table, Postscript, etc., 15 leaves. Fol- lowed by Supplement, or A Little of Every Thing Presented To all Ingenious Ladies and Gentlewomen, with separate title-page. London, Printed by T. It. for Richard Xiownds, and are to be Sold at the Sign of the White Lion in Duck-Lane. 1674. Title, Dedication, etc., 6 leaves -|- pp. 194, but pages are missing at the end. This is one of the rarest of the Seven- teenth Century books. HAKTMAN, GEOEGE. Hartman's Curiosities of Art and IsTature : or The True Preserver and Restorer of Health . . . the Second Edi- tion, With a second part, entitled, Excellent Directions for Cookery; Together with the Description of an Use- ful Engin serving for the same ; and hkevpise for Dis- tiUing the Choicest and Best Cordial Waters. As also Select Receipts for Preserving, Conserving, and Candy- ing, etc. With a Collection of the Choicest Receipts for making of Metheglin, Sider, Cherry- Wine, etc. First part: Printed for A. G. at the Ring in Little Britain, Where is sold A thousand Notable Things to prevent the Plague, and all Distempers ; the Way to get Wealth, and the Way to save Wealth. Second part : London, Printed by T. B. for O. Hart- man Chymist. 1682. 8vo, old calf. Title, Dedication, etc., 8 leaves + PP. 352 + Second Part, pp. 32. Ul ROSE, GILES. A perfect School of Instructions for the Officers of the Mouth: Shewing the Whole Art of A Master of the Household, A Master Carver, A Master Butler, A Mas- ter Confectioner, A Master Cook, A Master Pastryman. Being a Work of singular Use for Ladies and Gentle- women, and all Persons whatsoever that are desirous to be acquainted with the most excellent Arts of Carving, Cookery, Pastry, Preserving, and Laying a Cloth for Grand Entertainments. The like never before extant in any Language. Adorned with Pictures curiously Ingraven, displaying the whole Arts. By Giles Rose one of the Master Cooks in His Majesties Eatchen. Xiondon, Printed for H. Sentley and M. Magnes, III Russd- street in Covent- Garden. 1682. 8vo, old calf. Title, Dedication, etc., 12 leaves + pp. 563. Numerous Dlustrations, woodcuts, printed with the text. The book, " The like never before extant in any Language," is a translation of " L'Ecole Par- faite des OfBciers de Bouche," from which most of the illus- trations are taken. WHOLE DUTY OF A WOMAN, THE. The Whole Duty of a Woman: Or a Guide to the Fe- male Sex from the Age of Sixteen to Sixty, etc. . . . U2 Also Choice Keceipts in Physick, and Chirurgery. "With the Whole Art of Cookery, Preserving, Candy- ing, Beautifying, etc. Written by a Lady. The Third Edition. London. Printed for J. GuiUim, against the Great James Tavern in Bishopsgate-street. 1701. 12nio, old calf. Title and Pre- face, 3 leaves + pp. 184 WHOLE DUTY OF A WOMAN, THE. The Whole Duty of a Woman. . . . [Same as above.] The Eighth Edition. IjOiidon: Printed far A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch., at the Red Lyon in Pater-Noster Bow ; B. Ware., at the Sun and Bible, in Amen Corner ; and James Hodges, at the Looking- Glass on London Bridge. 1735. 12ino, modern calf. Frontispiece, woodcut of woman at prayers and in kitchen. Title and Pre- face, 3 leaves + pp. 167. KING, WILLIAM. The Art of Cookery, In Imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry. With some Letters to Dr. Lister, and others: Occasion'd principally by the Title of a Book publish'd by the Doctor, being the Works of Apicius Coelius, Concerning the Soups and Sauces of the Antients. 143 With an Extract of the greatest Curiosities contain'd in that Book. To which is added, Horace's Art of Poetry, in Latin. By the Author of the Journey to London. Humbly inscrib'd to the Honourable Beef Steak Club. London: Printed for Bernard Lintott at the Cross-Keys be- tween the two Temple Gates in Fleet-street. No date, but about 1708. 8vo, old calf. Titles, and Publisher to the Reader, 4 leaves + pp. 160. HOWAED, HENEY. England's IS'ewest way in all sorts of Cookery, Pastry, And All Pickles that are fit to be Used. Adorn'd with Copper Plates, setting forth the Manner of placing Dishes upon Tables; and the Newest Fashions of Mince-Pies. By Henry Howard, Free Cook of Lon- don, and late Cook to his Grace the Duke of Ormond, and since to the Earl of Salisbury, and Earl of Winchel- sea. Likewise the best Receipts for making Cakes, Mackroons, Biskets, Ginger-bread, French-bread etc. The Second Edition with Additions and Amendments. London, Printed for and Sold by Chr. Coningsby, at the Irik- bottle against Clifford'' s-Inn Back- Gate, in Fetter- Lane, Fleet- street. 1708. 8vo, old calf. Title, To the Reader, and Table, 8 leaves + pp. 156 + Publisher's Advertisement, 2 leaves. 144 LAMB, PATKICK. Eoyal Cookery : Or The Complete Court-Cook, Title page missing, but Advertisement at end explains it was printed far and sold by Maurice Atkins, at the Golden-Ball in S. PaiiPs Church- Yard. 1710. 8vo, old calf. Beginning im- perfect. Pp. 127 + Bills of Fare, Publisher's Advertisement, 8 leaves. 22 plates, engraved on copper. LEMEKY, LOUIS. New Curiosities in Art and ISTature : or a Collection of the most Valuable Secrets in all Arts and Sciences ; As appears by the Contents. Composed and Experimented by the Sieur Lemery, Apothecary to the French King. Translated into English from the Seventh Edition. Printed this last Year in French, in which is near one half more than any former Edition. Illustrated with Cuts. To which is added a Supplement by the Trans- lator. London : Printed for John King, at the Bible and Crown in Little-Britain ; and sold by J. Marphew, near StationersSaM 1711. 8vo, old calf. Title, Preface, etc., 8 leaves + PP- 354 + Index, 7 leaves. 8 engravings on copper. On inside of cover, the book-plate of "William Bowen." On fly-leaf, the inscription, " To Mrs PenneU from A. S. Hartrick." 14>5 LEMEEY, LOUIS. A Treatise of All Sorts of Foods. (See French Title.) Translated by D. Hay, M. D. To which is added, An Introduction treating of Foods in general: A Table of the Chapters, and an Alphabetical Index. A Work of universal Use to all who are inclin'd to know the good or bad Quahties of what they eat or drink. London: Printed for T. Osborne, in Gray's-Inn. 1745. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, engraviiig on copper. Frontispiece, Title, Preface, etc., pp. xii + pp. 372 + Index, 12 leaves. HALL, T. The Queen's Eoyal Cookery : Or, Expert and ready Way for the Dressing of all Sorts of Flesh, Fowl, Fish: Either Bak'd, Boil'd, Eoasted, Stew'd, Fry'd, Broil'd, Hash'd, Frigasied, Carbonaded, Forc'd, Collar' d, Sous'd, Dry'd, etc. After the Best and Newest Way. With then- several Sauses and Salads, etc. by T. Hall, Free Cook of London. The Second Edition. London: Printed for G. Pates, at the Sun and Pible in Gilt- spur- Street in Pye- Corner : And A. Pettesworth, at the Red Lion on London Pridge. 1713. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, wood- cut, a portrait of Queen Anne above drawings of kitchen, bakery, and distillery. Pp. 180. 146 EALE, MAEY. Mrs Mary Sale's Receipts. Confectioner to her late Majesty Queen Anne. London : Printed by H. Meere in Black-Fryers, and to he had at Mr Cooper'' s at the Three Pidgeons the lower end of Bedford- street, near the New Exchange in the Strand. 1718. 8vo, old calf. Title and Contents, 4 leaves + PP- 100. COLLECTIOI^, A. A Collection Of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cook- ery, Physick and Surgery; For the Use of all Good Wives, Tender Mothers, and Careful Nurses. By several Hands. The Second Edition. London, Printed for Mary Kettilhy, and Sold by Richard Wil/cin, at the Ki7ig''s Head in St. PauVs Church-Yard. 1719. 8vo, old calf. Titles and Preface, 7 leaves + pp. 86 + Index imperfect. On fly-leaf, the inscription, "Hommage to Auto- lycus fr Austin Dobson. 27. VII. '95 " E — S — [in later editions, E. Smith]. The Compleat Housewife; Or Accomplished Gentle- woman's Companion : Being a Collection of upwards of Five Hundred of the most approved Receipts in Cook- ery, Pastry, Confectionary, Preserving, Pickles, Cakes, 147 Creams, Jellies, Made Wines, Cordials. With Copper Plates curioiTsly engraven for the regular Disposition or Placing the various Dishes and Courses. And Also Bills of Fare for every Month in the Year. To which is added, A Collection of near Two Hundred Family Receipts of Medicines, etc. By E. S. Landcm: Printed for J. Pemberton, at the Golden Buck, over- against St. DunstarCs Church in Fleet-street. 1727. 8vo, old calf. Title, Preface, Bill of Fare, Index, 16 leaves + pp. 326 + Publisher's Advertisement, 1 leaf. 6 folded plates, inserted at the end. SMITH, E. The Complete Housewife. . . . Being A Collection of upwards of Seven Hundred of the most approved Re- ceipts in Cookery, Pastry, Confectionary, Potting, Col- laring, Preserving, Pickles, Cakes, Custards, Creams, Preserves, Conserves, Syrups, Jellies, Made Wines, Cor- dials, Distilhng, Brewing. . . . [As in first edition.] With Directions for Marketing. By E. Smith. The Eigh- teenth Edition with Additions. London : Printed for J. JBuckland, J. and F. Rivington, J. Minion, Sawes, Clarke and Collins, W. Johnston, S. Crowder, T. Longman, B. Law, T. Lowndes, S. Bladon, W. Nicoll, and 148 C. and B. Ware. 1773. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, engrav- rag on copper of kitchen by J. June. Title, Preface, etc., 20 leaves + pp. 400. 4 plates inserted at end. I^OTT, JOHN. The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary : Or the Ac- complish'd Housewives Companion. Containing, 1. the choicest Receipts in all the several Branches of Cook- ery, etc. etc., etc. The Third Edition with Additions. Revised and Recommended by John ISTott, late Cook to the Dukes of Somerset, Ormond and Bolton j Lord Lansdown and Ashburnham. London : Printed by IT. P. for Charles Rivingtcm, at the Bible and Crown, in St. PauPs Church-yard. 1727. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, engraving on copper, allegory of plenty, by J. Pine. Pages not numbered. 316 leaves. On inside of title-page, the book-plate of " Charles Earl of Ailesbury." CARTER, CHARLES. The Compleat City and Country Cook : or Accom- phsh'd Housewife. Containing, Several Hundred of the most approv'd Receipts in Cookery, Confectionary, Cordials, Cosmeticks, Jelhes, Pastry, Pickles, Preserv- ing, Syrups, English Wines, etc. By Charles Carter, r 149 Lately Cook to his Grace, the Duke of Argyle, the Earl of Pontefract, the Lord Cornwallis, etc. . . . London: Printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Sitch; and C. Davis in Pater-noster Row : T. Green at Charing Cross ; and S. Austen in jSt. PauTs Church-yard. 1732. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, engraving on copper, plan for an " Instalment Dinner. A Table for the Ladies in a Horse Shoe Form." Title and Preface, pp. viii + pp. 280. 49 plates. LADTS COMPANION, THE. The Lady's Companion : Or, an infallible Guide to the Fair Sex. Containing, Rules, Directions, and Obserya- tions, for their Conduct and Behaviour through all Ages and Circumstances of Life, as Yirgins, Wives, or Widows . . . and above one thousand different Re- ceipts in every Kind of Cookery, etc., etc., etc., The Second Edition. London : Printed for T. Jiead, in DogweU- Court, White Fryers, Fleet-Street. 1740. 8vo, old calf. Pp. 694. 10 Woodcuts printed with Text. 39 Plates. AEI^AUD, JASPER. An Alarm to All Persons Touching their Health and Lives, etc. etc. By Jasper Arnaud, Sometime past first 150 Cook to the late Duke of Orleans, and now for some Time Cook in London. London : Printed for T. Payne in Bound Court in the Strand, opposite York Buildings. 1740. 8vo, half calf. Title, 1 leaf + pp. 24. FAMILY MAGAZIO], THE. The Family Magazine : In Two Parts. Part I, Con- taining Useful Directions in All the Branches of House-Keeping and Cookery etc. etc. etc. Now First communicated for the Publick Benefit. London : Printed for J. Osborn, at the Golden-Ball iti Pater- noster-Bow. 1741. 8vo, old calf. Title and Preface, pp. xiv + sub-title, 1 leaf + 324. 6 woodcuts in text. PKESENT FOE A SEEYANT MAID, A. A Present for a Servant-Maid : Or the Sure Means of gaining Love and Esteem, etc. etc. The "Whole calcu- lated for making both the Mistress and Maid happy. London : Printed and Publishedby T. Gardner at CawleyhJSead, without Temple-Bar ; and sold by the Booksellers of Town and Country. 1743. 8vo, unbound. Title, Preface, etc., 2 leaves + pp. 76. |;;jji|li|iiij:i|H|!j!!|i||:|j!|ri::;,.:-:|jii^^^ 151 ADAM'S LUXURY AND EYE'S COOKERY. Adam's Luxury, and Eve's Cookery; or the Kitchen- Garden display'd. etc. etc. etc. London: Printed for R. Bodsley, in Pall MaU ; and Sold by M. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-noster Row. 1744. 8vo, old calf. Titles and Introduction, pp. xii + pp. 216. KIDDER, EDWARD. E. Kidder's Receipts of Pastry and Cookery, For the Use of his Scholars. Who teaches at his School in Queen Street near St. Thomas Apostles. On Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, In the Afternoon. Also on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays, In the Afternoon, at his School next to Furnivals Inn in Holborn, Ladies may be taught at their own Houses No publisher, printer, or date given. Hazlitt says it is earlier than Mrs Glasse's book, which was published in 1747. Prob- ably about 1740. 8vo, old calf. Frontispiece, on copper, the portrait of Kidder by Eob. Sheppard. The Title, the 42 pages of Text, printed on one side only, and the 8 plates are all engraved on copper. GLASSE, HAIWAH. The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy; Which far exceeds any Thing of the Kind ever yet PubUshed. 152 Containing, I. Of Eoasting, Boiling, &c. II. Of Made- Dishes. III. Eead this Chapter, and you will find how Expensive a French Cook's Sauce is. lY. To make a ISTumber of pretty little Dishes fit for a Supper, or Side- Dish, and little Coi'ner-Dishes for a great Table; and the rest you have in the Chapter for Lent. Y. To dress Fish. YI. Of Soops and Broths. YH. Of Pud- dings. YIII. Of Pies. IX. For a Fast-Dinner, a IS'um- ber of good Dishes, which you may make use for a Table at any other Time. X. Directions for the Sick. XI. For Captains of Ships. XII. Of Hog's Puddings, Sausages, &c. XIII. To Pot and make Hams, &c. XIY. OfPicklmg. XY. Of Making Cakes, (fee. XYI. Of Cheesecakes, Creams, Jellies, "Whip Syllabubs, &c. XYH. Of Made Wines, Brewing, French Bread, Muf- fins, &c. XYHI. Jarring Cherries, and Preserves, &c. XIX. To Make Anchovies, Yermicella, Ketchup, Yine- gar, and to keep Artichokes, French-Beans, &c. XX. Of Distilling. XXI. How to Market, and the Seasons of the Year for Butcher's Meat, Poultry, Fish, Herbs, Eoots, &c. and Fruit. XXII. A certain Cure for the Bite of a Mad Dog. By Dr. Mead. By a Lady. First Edition. 153 London : Printed for the Author ; and sold at Mrs. Ashburn^s, a Cliina-Shop Comer of Fleet-Ditch. 1747. Folio, modern morocco. Title, List of Subscribers, and Table, 8 leaves + pp. 166. Interleaved with modern paper ; on the first four leaves, four newspaper clippings pasted in by G. A. Sala. "Written on fly-leaf, " This is a copy of the First Edition of the famous Cookery Book written by Mrs Hannah Glasse (the authorship of which was erroneously ascribed by Dr. Johnson — see BosweU's Life — to Dr. Hill) Mrs Glasse, however, was a real personage ' Habit Maker to the Royal Family ' and lived in Southampton Row, Bloomsbury — Observe in the list of Subscribers the name of Mr Glasse, attorney at law, and Mrs Glasse, Carey St. These were probably of close kin- dred to Hannah. Subsequent editions bear on the title page a fac-sinule of H. G.'s autograph. There are (July 1876) only Four Copies of this First Edition (a ' pot ' folio) known to be in existence, viz: One in the Library of the British Museum — One in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. One in the possession of the Rev. Richard Hooper of Upton Rectory, Didcot — and One (hie inventus adest) belonging to George Augustus Sala. 46 Mecklenburgh Square. W. C. London." Since the book has been mine, I have seen two additional copies advertised in booksellers' catalogues. I am afraid Sala had not read his " BosweU " very carefully. His reference to Dr. Johnson is not quite accurate. 154 GLASSE, HANl^AH. The Art of Cookery, etc. By a Lady. — The Fourth Edition with Additions. London, Printed for the Author, and sold at the Bluecoai-Boy, near the Royai-Exchange, etc. 1751. 8vo, old calf. Frontis- piece, an advertisement for Hannah Glasse, engraved on cop- per. The only edition with this plate. Her autograph, H. Glasse, on first page. Title, Preface, etc., 11 leaves + PP- 334. GLASSE, HANNAH. The Art of Cookery, etc. By a Lady. The Eighth Edition. London: Printed for A. Millar, etc. 1763. 8vo, old calf. Her autograph, H. Glasse, on first page. Title, 1 leaf -f- To the Eeader, pp. vi + Contents, 12 leaves + pp. 384 + Index, 12 leaves. GLASSE, HANNAH. The Art of Cookery, etc. By a Lady The Ninth Edition. London Printed for A. Millar, etc. 1765. Paging same as in Eighth Edition. GLASSE, HANNAH. The Art of Cookery, etc. By H. Glasse THE A R O F T COOKERY, Made PLAIN arid EASY} which far exceeds any T h i n c of the Kind ever yet Publiflied. CONTAINING. I Of Roafting, Boiling, tSc. II. Of M. Jc-Uifiies. III. Kijd this Ciwptcr, and you will find how E.xpcnfive a Frtncb Cook's Sauce is. IV. To make a Number of prtity link Dilhcs lit for a|S»jppcr, or Side-Dilh, and lictlc Corner^ Uilhci lor a g[:--t Tabic; and ihe reft you liavc in the CluplLT tur Lent. V. Tudrtfs Fi(h. VI. or Soops and Brotlu. V!l. Of Puiidinjs. Vlll. OlPies. I A. Fur a Fjft-Dinner, a Number of s;ood Diftic:, wAich you inay make ufc for a 1 able at any utiicr Ti.iitr. X Uuvfllons for the Sick. Xr F'»r Cipi.iins o( Ships XII. Of IKiSPaJdings. Saufjges, tic. Xm. To Pot and Mate Hams, iit. XtV. Of P.ckhng. XV. Of Making Cakes, Ijfc. XVI. Of Chccfecakcs, Creams, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, i3'c. XVII. OfMaJe Wines, Brewing, Frinch^mi, Muffins,