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Frewin.   Leslie [Editor]     - With a Cafe Royal Christmas menu.
The Cafe Royal Story
A Living Legend EDITED BY Leslie Frewin WITH A FOREWARD BY Graham Greene LONDON: HUTCHINSON BENHAM.
FIRST EDITION. 1963. Large 4to. Paste-down and end-paper with sepia photograph. [1] Half title. [2] Frontispiece copy of a Charles Ginner painting of the Cafe Royal. Title page in black with a large ornamental decoration in red. Verso with printers info. 1p Introduction. [1] 2p Contents. 9-10 Paste-down and end-paper with sepia photograph. With numerous photographs and illustrations in-text, some full page. Fully bound in cream cloth. Spine with red writing and boards with fine illustration in red and black. All in excellent condition; as new, protected by a plastic wrapper. Also enclosed is a Christmas Luncheon menu for December 11th 1964, for 'The Horticultural Press Club'. Cream coloured with black text, in fine condition.
- The Cafe Royal, established in 1865, boasted its famously opulent Grill Room, considered one of London's finest dining rooms; the great Empire and Napoleon suite, elegantly lit by chandeliers made of Venetian glass, was favoured by those looking for a memorable party venue. For more than a century after it was built on Regent Street by a Parisian wine merchant, the rich and famous would flock there to eat, drink, dance and be merry. The Grill Room was also once its most notorious. It was there that the Marquess of Queensberry spotted his son, Lord Alfred Douglas (aka Bosie), lunching with Oscar Wilde "in the most loathsome and disgusting relationship". He later wrote a furious letter to his son, threatening to shoot Wilde on sight, to which Bosie insouciantly telegrammed back: "What a funny little man you are." The Café Royal was a favourite haunt of Wilde, who had a famous absinthe hallucination there when he thought the waiter, who was stacking chairs, was in fact watering the floor, covered in tulips, with a watering can. Other famous Patrons included Rudyard Kipling, Noel Coward, Sir Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Vitrginia Woolf, Mick Jagger, Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher and Muhammad Ali. On 2oth January 2009, the curtains came down, literally, in the Café Royal. After 143 illustrious years, the fixtures, fittings and all the equipment of this venerable London institution was being put under the hammer of Bonhams the Auctioneers, after the Crown Estate decided to redevelop the site at that end of Regent Street. Had it spent its life almost anywhere else, the slightly battered silver serving trolley with the fickle steering would have barely raised an eyebrow in the dining room, let alone a flurry of paddles in an auction house. But this piece of functional furniture has had an extraordinary history. Amazingly, the electroplated trolley sold for £12,000 in the Everything-Must-Go sale. By the end of the two-hour auction, more than £200,000 had been raised. All 110 lots had been sold, some for as much as 10 times their asking price. An early 20th century Venetian chandelier adorned with 20 lights was the most expensive lot, going for £15,600, twice its guide price. Lot 93, a pair of late 19th century oak coopered barrels long drained of the alcohol they once contained, went for £8,400, almost five times their estimate. A number of pictures by artists so undistinguished their names weren't even listed in Bonhams' brochure sold for thousands of pounds – purely, it seemed, because they depicted scenes from the Cafe Royal, and had once hung in the venue's famously opulent chambers. One, a scene of the grill room filled with men in top hats and tails, sold for £4,800, despite Bonhams estimating its value at between £200 and £300. One buyer who bid purely for sentimental reasons was Susan Hughes, an antique dealer from Weybridge, who snapped up one of the auction's most curious lots. She ended up paying £4,200 for what the brochure, giving a guide price of £100-£200, described as "a 19th century electroplated duck press". It was in fact the press for ‘Canard a’la Presse’ – for more than a century the celebrated speciality of Paris’s grandest restaurant, La Tour d’Argent. This niche piece of equipment, which resembled a large grapefruit press, is used to squeeze out the juices of a freshly killed and roasted duck carcass, which in turn are used to thicken the duck jus. Hughes's father, Eric Hartwell (see image #3 below) was chief executive of the Forte catering and hotel empire, which bought the Cafe Royal 1954. "I spent much of my childhood playing in the Cafe Royal, and my father was very proud of the duck press," she said. As her husband loaded the contraption into the back of their car, he admitted that though the couple were delighted to own this piece of history, they wouldn't be using it. "We're both vegetarians," he said. So that is the final chapter that should be in the book. Overall it is a fascinating story of a grand eating establishment that was on a par with The Savoy, Claridges, The Ritz et al. One will never see the same again. This interesting volume is a meal, a fine wine and a waltz thro’ a different age with a hearty dose of gossip thrown in to round of a memorable time.

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Modern category
ref number: 11111
Gagrine.   , Princess Alexandre     The 1st English edition in fine condition
The Russian Cook Book.
THE RUSSIAN COOK BOOK COMPILED & TRANSLATED BY Princess Alexandre Gagarine (The printers square lined device) LONDON: William Heinemann Ltd. With a green ornamental border.
FIRST BRITISH EDITION. 1924. 8vo. 1fep. Half Title. Verso publisher's note. Title page. [1] 1p Contents. [1] 1-247. [1] 2fep. Very clean text block. Orange cloth backed blind stamped boards. Gilt lettering on the spine. Original dust jacket very slightly rubbed on the top edge. Overall very clean and well preserved. An extremely scarce book with the fine dust jacket.
- The Russian Cook Book (translated into English by Princess Gagarine) originated in the kitchen of the sumptuous house of Madame Dragomirov, the wife of The Governor General of Kiev which was famed for its cuisine. At the request of her friends, she compiled the collection of her recipes and published it with great success in Russia. It was first published in the West in 1923, in New York by Alfred A. Knopf. Titled the 'The Borzoi Cook Book' it was translated by Princess Alexandre Gagarine. This copy is the first British edition of 1924, published in London by William Heinemann and re-titled 'The Russian Cook Book', also by Princess Alexandre Gagarine. This book of fine food is the product of a very privileged lifestyle and a large household budget. It is a direct result of Madame Draomirov's record of lavish entertaining. There is a recipe for 'Soup Puree of Game' consisting of 3lb Beef and 3 Birds, (either grouse, blackcock or partridges) 3/4 lb of Barley, 1 egg yolk, 1 cup of Cream and butter. Another recipe is for the French Sauce Bernaise served with Beef steaks. Further in the book are recipes for Roasts: Turkey stuffed with Chestnuts. Roast saddle of Roebuck. A roast Bustard along with all manner of game birds. Did the common peasant ever see such spreads in their whole life.? These recipes of all the great Russian dishes are from a time before the revolution of 1917. Princess Alexandre Gagarine the compiler and translator, had fled the revolution to America, but would herself have been a member of that Russian strata of high-level privilege. She did a prudent move by translating Madame Draomirov's successful Russian version of her cookbook. She probably needed the cash. Two very different, but popular cookery books of the time, certainly counterpoint the privileged richness of Gagarine's book. No 1 is 'A Gift to Young Housewives' 1861. A Russian cookbook written and compiled by Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets and usually referred to as "Molokhovets", rather than its long title. It was the most successful book of its kind in the 19th and early 20th-century in Russia. Molokhovets revised the book continually between 1861 and 1917, a period of time falling between the emancipation of the serfs and the Communist Revolution. The book was well known in Russian households during publication and for decades afterwards. It was republished in 2003. The 2nd influential cookery book after the October revolution of 1917 was 'The Book of Healthy and Tasty Food' by Anastas Mikoyan. What Elena Molokhovets is to nineteenth-century culinary history, Anastas Mikoyan, Stalin’s commissar for foreign trade is to the Soviet era. Mikoyan’s project was as welcome to Soviet housewives, to whom it is dedicated, as Molokhovet's book had been to their great-grandmothers. Containing more than 1,400 recipes, it sold more than 8 million copies and has never been out of print since it’s 1952 publication (it was first issued in 1939, but the war hindered further print editions) Many of the recipes in the Book, as it is lovingly referred to, begin with “open a tin of…” reflecting the ubiquity of tinned food, as well as the fact that many Soviet citizens were still in possession of only one burner on a communal apartment stove. Mikoyan's book’s recipes contain ingredients that can be counted on the fingers of one hand and only a few simple steps. It also contains useful information on nutrition, cooking methods, and even the etiquette of setting a proper table, reflecting the post-war trend of returning to family life. Whereas Mikoyan's book is a government sponsored production for the masses, the 416 recipes of great variety in Princess Alexandre Gagarine's cookery book are strongly biased and worded due to the French influence in the Royal Kitchens of St.Petersburg, where great chefs like Careme and Urbain Dubois spent some time. This would have a profound knock-on effect on the kitchens and dining tables of the pre-revolution elite classes, who were strongly influenced by all things Royal. When reading the recipes one thing that surprises, is the amazing and varied abundance available, of the fresh food from water, land and air. A fascinating insight into a cuisine that is not so well known outside of Russia, plus a lifestyle that disappeared for a long time till the growth of new Russian middle and upper classes and the oligarchs, with their wealth, helped to re-establish a similar level of demand and consumption. Indeed, an ironic democratic dynamic.

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Modern category
ref number: 11266
GELLEROY.   William     First edition with the large folded frontispiece of the King's dinner.
THE LONDON COOK
OR The whole ART of COOKERY made easy and familiar. CONTAING A great Number of approved and practical RECEIPTS in every Branch of Cookery. VIZ. Chap. 1. Of Soups, Broths and Gravy.11I. Of Pancakes, Fritters, Possets, Tanseys, &c. 111. Of Fish. 1V. Of Boiling. V. Of Roasting. V1. Of Made-Dishes. V11. Of Poultry and Game. V111. Sauces for Poultry and Game. (with two up and down separating parallel lines) 1X. Sauces for Butcher's Meat, &c. X. Of Puddings. X1. Of Pies, Custards, and Tarts, &c. X11. Of Sausages, Hogs-Puddings, &c. V111. Of Potting and Collaring. X1V. Of Pickles. XV. Of Creams, Jellies, &c. XV1. Of made wine. (a single horizontal line) By WILLIAM GELLEROY, Late Cook to her Grace the Dutchess [sic] of Argyle. And now to the Right Hon. Sir Samuel Fludger, Bart. Lord Mayor of the City of London. (a single horizontal line). To which is prefixed, A large Copper-Plate, representing his Majesty's Table, with its proper Removes, as it was served at Guild-Hall, on the 9th of November last, being the Lord Mayor's Day when His Majesty, and the Royal Family, did the City the Honour to dine with them, and wrere highly pleased with their Entertainment. (two single horizontal lines). LONDON: Printed for S. Crowder, and Co. at the Looking-Glass; J. Coote, at the King's-Arms, in Pater-noster Row; and J. Fletcher, St. Paul's Church-Yard. MDCCLX11.
FIRST EDITION. 1762. 8vo, 195 x 118 mms. 1 fep. Frontis of a large folding engraved plate measuring 260 x 340mm, of His Majesty's Table at the Guild Hall on Wednesday 9th November 1762, repaired on verso. Title Page. [1] (1)-iv. To the reader. 4p King & Queen & Royal Families Banquet dishes. (14) Contents. (1)2-486. 2p Advertisements. 1fep. Contemporary speckled brown calf rebacked. Raised bands between gilt rules on spine. Black morocco label. A very good copy.
- A.W. Oxford thinks this is a very good book and commends it for being the first for having a modest preface. Fortunately it has the large folded plate of the King's table as the frontispiece. It appears from auction and dealer's records that it is often missing. William Gelleroy describes himself on the title-page as "Late Cook to her Grace the Dutchess [sic] of Argyle. And now to the Right Hon. Sir Samuel Fludger, Bart. Lord Mayor of the City of London." "Fludger" is in fact Sir Samuel Fludyer (1704 - 1768), one of London's foremost merchants who left an estate valued at £900,000 at his death; an astonishing £176,623,969 in 2020. (we can assume that Gelleroy must have been well paid) There are in his book a number of curious recipes. For example, Lambs Ears fried: "Take twelve lambs ears, prepared as mentioned in the Bechamel of lambs ears; when drained and wiped dry, fill the insides with a fine force-meat, roll them in the yolks of beaten eggs, and strew them with the crumbs of grated bread; fry them of a fine brown in hogs-lard, and serve them with a brown coullis sauce, and the juice of an orange or lemon." From the Cookery book collection of Ruth Watson. A very scarce book. ESTC T63887; Bitting p.179; Maclean p.56; Oxford p. 92; Simon BG 740.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11292
Glasse   Mrs [Hannah]    
THE COMPLETE ART OF COOKERY,
EXHIBITED IN A PLAIN AND EASY MANNER; WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MARKETING; THE SEASONS FOR MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, GAME, ETC. AND NUMEROUS USEFUL FAMILY RECEIPTS. BY MRS GLASSE. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY J. S. PRATT. MDCCCXLV.
130x76mm (5" X 3") 2feps. – 1 is an ex-libris sheet with no name. [1]Frontispiece with a double line border. Title page. [1] (1)6-24. Contents (1)26-320. 1fep. With numerous in-text engravings. New blue cloth binding with gilt lettering on the spine. Internally very clean with the pages very slightly aged. A handsome copy of this late copy of Hannah Glasse's great classic. Almost classifies as a miniature. 32 pages less text than the first edition of 1842.
- A nice copy of this desirable late edition of Hannah Glasse’s famous classic first seen in 1747.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11188
Glasse.   Hannah     - A signed copy with rare frontispiece and Publishers 1st manuscript recipe for Turtle.
The ART of COOKERY MADE PLAIN and EASY
Which far exceeds anything yet published. CONTAINING, 1. Of Roasting, Boiling, etc. 11. Of Made-Dishes. 111.Read this Chapter and you will find how Expensive a Fench Cook's Sauce is. 1V. To make a Number of pretty little Dishes fit for a Supper or Side-Dish, and little Corner-Dishes for a Great Table; and the rest you have in the Chapter for Lent. V. To dress Fish. V1. Of Soops and Broths. V11. Of Puddings. V111. Of Pies> 1X. For a Lent Dinner, a Number of good Dishes, which you make use of for a Table at any other Time. X. Directions for the Sick. X1. For Captains of Ships. X11. Of Hogs Puddings, Sausages, etc. X11. To pot and make Hams, etc. X1V. Of Pickling. XV. Of making Cakes, etc. XV1. Of Cheesec akes, Creams, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, etc. XV11. Of Made Wines, Brewing, French Bread, Muffins, etc. XV111. Jarring, Cherries, Preserves, etc. X1X. To make Anchovies, Vermicella, Catchup, Vinegar, and to keep Artichokes, French Beans, etc. XX. Of Distilling. XX1. How to Market; the Seasons of the Year for Butchers Meat, Poultry, Fish, Herbs, Roots, etc and Fruit. XX11. A certain Cure for the Bite of a Mad Dog. By Dr. Mead. XX111. A Receipt to keep clear from Buggs. To which are added, By Way of APPENDIX, 1. To dress a Turkey, the West-India Way. 11. To make Ice Cream. 111. A Turkey, etc. in Jelly. 1V. To make Citron. V. To candy Cherries ot Green Gauges. V1. To make Ironmoulds out of Linnen. By a LADY. The FOURTH EDITION with ADDITIONS. LONDON: Printed for the AUTHOR, and sold at the Bluecoat-Boy, near the Royal-Exchange: at Mrs Sshburn's China-Shop, The Corner of Fleet-Ditch; at the Leg and DIal, in Fleet-Street; at the Prince of Wales's Arms, in Tavistock Street in Civet-Garden; by W. Innys, in Pater-noster Row; J. Hodges on London-Bridge; T. Trye, near Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holburn; J. Brotherton, in Cornhill; and by te Booksellers in Town and Country. M.DCC.LI. [Price 4s. stictch'd, and 5s. bound] *** This BOOK is publish'd with His MAJESTY's Royal Licence; and whoever prints it, or any Part of it, will be prosecuted.
8vo. 1751 - 4th edition. Trade card frontispiece with the last line cropped in half. Title page. 4p To the reader. 20p The contents. 1-334. Full rich burgundy calf, with ornate French-style gilt tooling to spine compartments, with raised bands, with black label and gilt lettering. The boards have gilt lines, gilt edges, the paste-down and end-paper in marbled paper with intricate gilt on the edge of the paste-down. The fore-edge marbled. The text block has been slightly cropped with no loss and very lightly age browned through out, but quite clean overall. On page 1, Hannah Glasse has signed her name in ink. It is not the facsimile signature common in other copies. Also attached is a one page publisher's manuscript with the recipe "To dress a Turtle in the West India Way" written in a fine cursive script. The document that has been folded with the title written on the outside of the folds. This is a common way of the time for filing papers. It is in fine condition with a small tear to one of the folds.
- Hannah Glasse's well known cookery book was first published in folio in 1747. It was an anonymous work 'By a Lady' It was not until four years later in this 4th edition of 1751 that Hannah Glasse's name appears for the first time on the beautifully designed and unique engraved trade card frontispiece. It states -- Hannah Glasse - Habit-Maker To Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, in Tavistock Street - Covent Garden. The frontis is very rare. It has been missing from all other copies of the 4th edition seen by this compiler. Mrs. Pennell had a copy and had the trade card reproduced on page 42 of her book, ‘My Cookery Books.’ The frontis also provides solid evidence for the first time that this popular cookery book was indeed written by a woman, disputing Dr Johnson's famously pointed, but misguided quip about 'The Art of Cookery' -- "Woman can spin very well, but they cannot make a good book of Cookery" This most popular English writer of cookery books was hostile to French cooking. She viewed French cooking as a wasteful extravagance but her book is full of stews, roasts, boiled beef, fricassees, and deep fried dishes. Most of her recipes are more complicated than comparable French recipes from the same period. Many of Glasse's recipes, like those of her female contemporaries were the backbone of English cuisine. From her savory veal pies and baked salmon to her pickles and apple tarts, the recipes are in fact more practical than their French counterparts and many are still used in England today. Hannah did not own her book for long, as the sixth edition is the last one that she edited herself before selling the copyright. Many later revised editions started to appear because the Glasse text had a lot of shareholders who quickly began printing their own copies. However, this fourth edition is completely unique, because of Glasse's own signature, and with the hitherto unseen frontis, along with the enclosed publisher's manuscript for dressing a "Turtle the West Indian Way", that was also printed for the first time as an appendix to this edition, ensures altogether, a very handsome and rare item.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 10968
Glasse.   Hannah    
THE Complete Confectioner:
OR, THE Whole Art of Confectionary Made Plain and Easy. SHEWING, THe various Methods of PRESERVING and CANDYING, both dry and liquid, all Kinds of Fruit, Flowers, and Herbs; the different Ways of CLARIFYING SU-GAR; and the Method of Keeping Fruit, Nuts, and Flowers fresh and fine all the Year round. ALSO DIRECTIONS for making Rock-Works and Carrots, Biscuits, Rich Cakes, Creams, Custards, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, and Cheese-Cakes of all Sorts, Strong Cordials, Simple Waters, Mead, Oils, etc. Syrups of all Kinds, Milk Punch that will keep 20 Years, Knicknacks and Trifles for Deserts, etc. etc. etc. etc. LIKEWISE, The Art of making Artificial Fruit, with the Stalks in it, so as to resemble the natural Fruit. To which are added, Some Bills of Fare for Deserts for Private Families. By H. GLASSE, Author of the Art of Cookery. LONDON. Printed for J. Cooke at Shakespear's Head, in Pater-noster Row. MDCCLXXII.
8vo. Title page. 2p - To the HOUSEKEEPERS. 1-304. [1-XV1 CONTENTS] Internally very lightly age browned but overall, very clean. Half Dark brown calf with marbled boards. Raised bands with gilt lines and red label with gilt writing. Very good modern binding. A lovely copy of a scarce book.
- It has interestingly, 2 facsimile signatures of H. Glasse. One at the end of the notes for the Housekeepers and the other on the facing page. There are also 12 pages of Bills of Fare. This copy is the 1st edition 3rd issue of 1772. The 1st Edition, 1st issue was published - 1760. The 2nd issue, published 1765.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 10969
Glasse.   Mrs [Hannah]    
THE COMPLETE ART OF COOKERY,
EXHIBITED IN A PLAIN AND EASY MANNER; WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MARKETING; THE SEASONS FOR MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, GAME, ETC. AND NUMEROUS USEFUL FAMILY RECEIPTS, ETC. BY MRS GLASSE. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY J.BARR & Co. 5, LITTLE FRIDAY STREET, CHEAPSIDE. MDCCCXLII.
130x76mm (5" X 3") 1fep. [1]Frontispiece with a double line border. Title page. [1] (1)6-24 Contents. (1)26-307. 308-323 Bills of Fare. 324-352 Useful Family Receipts. 1fep. With numerous in-text engravings. Slightly faded blue blind tooled full original cloth binding. The spine has be re-backed with a small chip missing and one gilt letter of the title. Internally very clean with the pages very slightly aged. A handsome copy of this small late copy of Hannah Glasse's great classic.
- Quite what Hannah Glasse would have made of this tiny tome published by J. Barr in 1842 almost 100 years after her famous first edition of 1747, we can only guess. As famous and unique as Glasse's folio first edition is, this very small late edition is at the opposite end of the scale and surely just as different and unusual. It is very scarce, especially in this fine condition. It is one of those items that if seen while out book hunting, has an immediate 'buy me' appeal, even if found in poor condition.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11125
Glasse.   Hannah     - The rare folio 1st edition, first issue of 1747.
The ART of COOKERY MADE PLAIN and EASY
Which far exceeds any Thing of the Kind yet Published. CONTAINING, 1. Of Roasting, Boiling, etc. 11. Of Made-Dishes. 111.Read this Chapter and you will find how Expensive a French Cook's Sauce is. 1V. To make a Number of pretty little Dishes fit for a Supper, or Side-Dish, and little Corner-Dishes for a Great Table; and the rest you have in the Chapter for Lent. V. To dress Fish. V1. Of Soops and Broths. V11. Of Puddings. V111. Of Pies. 1X. For a Fast-Dinner, a Number of good Dishes, which you may make use of for a Table at any other Time. X. Directions for the Sick. X1. For Captains of Ships. X11. Of Hog's Puddings, Sausages, etc. X11. To pot and Make Hams, etc. X1V. Of Pickling. XV. Of making Cakes, etc. XV1. Of Cheesecakes, Creams, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, etc. XV11. Of Made Wines, Brewing, French Bread, Muffins, etc. XV111. Jarring and Cherries, Preserves, etc. X1X. To make Anchovies, Vermicella, Ketchup, Vinegar, and to keep Artichokes, French Beans, etc. XX. Of Distilling. XX1. How to Market; the Seasons of the Year for Butchers Meat, Poultry, Fish, Herbs, Roots, etc and Fruit. XX11. A certain Cure for the Bite of a Mad Dog. By Dr. Mead. BY A LADY. A engraved printer's device between lines. LONDON: Printed for the AUTHOR, and sold at Mrs Ashburn's, a China-Shop, The Corner of Fleet-Ditch. MDCCXLVII [Price 3s.6 (the 6 written by hand) stictch'd, and 5s. bound]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. 1747. Folio. 287x184 mm. 1 fep. Title page with the the handwritten 6 after the 3s as called for in the last line. [1] 2 pages of Subscribers. 11 pages of Contents with small one inch piece with no loss missing from 1st page.1 page A small Instruction by Glasse. (1)ii To the Reader. (1)4 - 166, although miss-paginated; page numbers 66/67 and 136/137 missing with no loss to text (This miss-pagination matches Cagle's copy). 1 fep. Our copy seems to conform to Marcus Crahan’s description of the first issue, with 16pp. preliminaries rather than 20. Without notice of second place of sale on the title page and with the price of ‘6d’ entered by hand. Pages 37 - 41 with some foxing. All other pages very clean. Title page and edges slightly age browned. Spine and tips bound in sprinkled dark-brown half calf and boards marbled. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and tooled devices in compartments with red morocco label. A very good copy of one of the rarities of cookery texts.
- ‘The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy’ was written by Hannah Glasse and published in 1747 in its famous folio format. Even though it was expensive at 5 shillings for a bound copy or 3.6 shillings unbound, it was an instant success, and was a best seller for over a hundred years, being published continuously until 1843. This made Glasse one of the best-known cookery writers of the eighteenth century. She was not supplanted as a culinary authority until the work of Mrs. Isabella Beeton appeared in 1861 over a century later. The books of those famous ladies being two of the cornerstone works needed in the building of an English culinary library. As Hannah Glasse explains in the preface, the book was intended to be an instruction manual for servants - 'the lower sort' as she called them. As Hannah puts it, the book should 'improve the servants and save the ladies a great deal of trouble'. She is dismissive of the fanciful language used by other cookery book writers, which she feels simply confuses the servants: 'the poor girls are at a loss to know what they mean,' she writes. In contrast, her style is precise and direct. The power of her book though is the clarity of the writing. She's authoritative but she is also intimate, treating you as an equal. Even though a large percentage of the recipes were plagarised, even reproduced verbatim from recipes published in earlier books by other writers, she shows a great deal of her own skill and originality. It is an unprecedentedly comprehensive recipe book with simple instructions, accessible ingredients, an accent on thrift (even though she recommends in the preface that half a pound of butter is enough to fry 12 eggs), easy recipes and practical help with weights and timing, which was a big step up from previous works. Her writing style is lively, intelligent and amusing. Glasse is scornful of the elaborate and extravagant French recipes of the period, but many of her recipes will have been influenced by French cuisine, which was becoming increasingly fashionable at the time. This does not inhibit Glasse from including the earliest recipe in an English cookbook for Indian curry, albeit with just black pepper and coriander. No Huldi, Lal Mirch, Methi, Jeera etc. Even though the ‘Art of Cookery’ was a ground breaking effort that generated much interest, the fame and survival of Hannah Glasse’s book is not due to her genius or her ability as a cook, as she was neither, but for four years following its publication, there were widespread rumours that ‘The Art of Cookery’ had been written by a man. For a woman to have written such an eloquent and well-organised work seemed implausible to many. James Boswell's diary records a party at the house of the publisher Charles Dilly, at which the issue was discussed. He quotes Samuel Johnson as saying, 'Women can spin very well; but they cannot make a good book of cookery.' Many others also believed this. It was not till she edited and published her fourth edition of 1751 that Johnson’s ill-advised quip was proved false. Due to the negative press generated by the popular book being first written and published by ‘A Lady’, Glasse inserted her trade card as a handsome engraved frontispiece and signed the first page of recipes, putting to rest all the speculation. (See my 1751 edition – item number 10968 in this website). This first edition is extremely scarce, but just how scarce is hard to figure, even after a lot of research. Due to demand the second edition was published in the same year; 1747. This strongly indicates that the first print run was very small. As can be seen in the Subscriber’s list printed in the first edition, there are 202 names. Assuming the subscribers all received a copy and there was enough cash to print a few more, we can possibly assume a print run of no more than 500 copies. Scarce indeed! --- COPAC lists only 10 firsts of 1747 out of 491 copies of various other editions in British holdings. As could be expected there are substantially more second editions listed. This cookbook has a somewhat iconic status that is hard to believe. Along with Beeton's equally rare original 24 booklets of 'Household Management' published before she brought out the 1st edition in book form, they both fetch silly money when they do appear at auction. --- Bitting, pages 186-87; The STC by Virginia Maclean, page 59; Cagle, pages 497-8; Arnold Oxford, pages 76-77; The Cetus Library, sold at Bloomsbury Auctions, lot 149: Marcus and Elizabeth Crahan collection sold at Sothebys, p317; Andre Simon Bibliotheca Gastronomica , 761;

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11212
Gouffe.   Jules     - An apprentice of Careme's
THE ROYAL COOKERY BOOK
(LE LIVRE DE CUISINE) BY JULES GOUFFE CHEF DE CUISINE OF THE PARIS JOCKEY CLUB TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH AND ADAPTED FOR ENGLISH USE BY ALPHONSE GOUFFE HEAD PASTRY-COOK TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN COMPRISING DOMESTIC AND HIGH-CLASS COOKERY ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN LARGE PLATES PRINTED IN COLOUR, AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE WOODCUTS FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE BY E. RONJAT. NEW EDITION LONDON SAMPSON LOW, SON, MARSTON, SEARLE, AND RIVINGTON CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET 1883 (All rights reserved)
245x170mm. 3feps. Half title with advertisement on verso. [1] Coloured Frontispiece. Title page in red and black text (with illustration of a beef forerib). [1] 1+vi Translators preface. 1+viii-xii Preface. 1+xvi Illustrations. 1+xvl Contents. 1p List of coloured plates. [1] 1p Part the first. [1] 1+4-573. [1] 1+576-599 Index. [1] 3feps. Beautiful modern binding in half dark calf and corners with marbled boards. Spine with raised bands with elaborate gilt and blind tooling, a red and a green label with gilt lettering. Gilt edges to the text block. Externally and internally very clean. A handsome copy.
- Jules Gouffe was born 1807 and died 1877. He felt himself to have a talent for cookery from his early youth. His father, an established pastry-cook in the Saint-Merri quarter, taught him the basic principles of cookery. It was then that Antonin Careme, the great French Chef, hearing of the talent of the young Gouffe, who at seventeen was already showing promise in the decoration and presentation of set-pieces, took him into his kitchens at the Austrian Embassy in Paris. Careme turned him into a model carftsman, and a celebrity of his day. In 1840, Jules Gouffe set up on his own in the Faubourg Saint-Honore; his restaurant became one of the best in Paris. In 1855 he retired, but went back to work in 1867, encouraged by those famous gourmets, Dumas the elder and Baron Brisse. This pair of epicures offered him the post of Head Chef at the Jockey Club. It was the time that Gouffe began to work on his 'Livre de Cuisine' (of which, 'The Royal Cookery Book' is the English translation) a magnificent book which deserves a place in every cookery book collection or library, side by side with Careme, Plumery, Urbain Dubois, Emile Bernard, Escoffier, et al. The pleasing way the book is set out, the very good professional recipes, the numerous woodcuts, the sixteen magnificent coloured chromo-lithographed plates delight lovers of good books in a way that perhaps other productions do not.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11027
Gouffe.   Jules     - A compliment to Gouffe's Royal Cookery Book
THE ROYAL BOOK OF PASTRY AND CONFECTIONERY
(LE LIVRE DE PATISSERIE) BY JOULES GOUFFE CHEF DE CUISINE OF THE PARIS JOCKEY CLUB TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH AND ADAPTED TO ENGLISH USE BY ALFONSE GOUFFE HEAD PASTRY-COOK TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ILLUSTRATED WITH TEN CHROMO-LITHOGRAPH AND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN WOODCUTS FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE BY J.RONJAT LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, & SEARLE CROWN BUILDINGS IN FLEET STREET . E.C. 1874 All rights reserved
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION. 240 X 168mm. 4feps. Half title. [1+1] Coloured frontispiece. Title page in red and black text. [1] 1+vi-xii. 1+xiv Contents. 1+2-453. [1] 1+456-471 Index. [1] 1+474 Index of 127 woodcuts. 2p Advertisements. with 10 chromo-lithograph coloured plates. 3feps. Very nice modern quarter dark brown calf with calf corners and marbled boards. Spine with raised bands and elaborate gilt and blind tooling. A red and a green label with gilt lettering. Externally and internally very bright and clean. A handsome copy.
- Translated from the French by Jules's brother Alphonse, Jules Gouffe's 'Royal Book of Pastry' is quite rare. Axford does not even have an entry for Gouffe, while Oxford, Cagle and Bitting do not have a copy, although Bitting records the first French edition of 1873. This book was written to accompany the more common 'Royal Book of Cookery'. It is also just as handsome and well produced.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11040


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