Royal Menu.       - Visiting the Scottish Highlands.
Luncheon for Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
THE ROYAL BURGH OF INVERNESS (the coat of arms of Inverness). Visit of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Luncheon In STATION HOTEL., INVERNESS On FRIDAY, 26th JUNE, 1964. Provost W. J. MACKAY Presiding.
177 x 113 mm. One sheet of cream-coloured cardboard folded in half, thereby creating 4 pages. Outside page - see above. Verso with 2 wines. 3rd page with menu. Back outside cover blank. Very slightly stained on first 3 pages. Housed and inserted in a marbled sleeve.
- This was the last leg of a three day visit by the Queen and Prince Phillip to the Scottish Highlands on 24th to 26th June, 1964. It included Caithness, Sutherland, Easter Ross and Inverness. I was a very young commis chef starting in the Pastry Department of the Station Hotel, Inverness. The Chef Patissier was a Spaniard called Jose who was a very good and patient teacher. There was another young commis pattisier like me, so a team of three. The sweet course on the menu was a very traditional Strawberries and Cream. I remember helping with small intricate Petit Fours; my first time seeing and making those exquisite mouthfuls. Another thing I remember hearing, that the Chef de Cuisine, an Italian called Mr Lyola, had been given a list of items to chose from that the Queen liked, to make a menu. (I should imagine that the menu had to be sent back to the Queen's tour organisers for approval). Part of the brief was to keep the menu simple. Chef Lyola, who was near to retirement age, had been the Chef de Cuisine at the Central Hotel in Glasgow and had been sent to Inverness to raise the standards. He was a very exacting boss, with a big reputation. We commis chefs were in awe of him and not a little afraid to become the focus of his ire for the slightest mistake. For the first course of 'Foie Gras a la Gelee de Porto', a French chef from the Central Hotel came for three days to prepare it. I remember also the excitement I felt in the kitchen at that time. None of the commis took time or days off. We just wanted to see and learn the new dishes, even though now, when I read the menu I'm surprised by its relative simplicity. I had the privilege many years later to be the Chef Poissonnier at Claridges Hotel in London. There was during the height of every season, eight high level diplomatic banquets, coordinated with the relative Embassy, and held for up to two hundred guests with the Queen attending each one. (most times with Heads of State as the Queen's main Guest). Those were much more sophisticated affairs, but the excitement of those did not compare to the awe and wonder of that first one in Inverness when I was just starting out.

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Information

Modern category
ref number: 11278

ROYAL MENU.      
ON BOARD THE ROYAL YACHT 'BRITANNIA'.
Menu: Filet of Red Snapper Fecampoise. (a single small line) Supreme of Chicken with Wild Mushrooms. Salad. (a single small line) Chocolate and Ginger Mousse. Friday 30th May 1997. Tokyo.
173 x 110mm. A white card with on the top left-hand corner, E11R embossed in gilt with gilt embossed crown on top. On the right side is a very nice copy of a painting of 'Britannia' with three sail boats around her. Underneath is a gilt embossed ribbon with 'H.M.Y Britannia' printed inside. then the menu below that and finally the date and location on the bottom. The menu has rounded corners and the edges in gilt. In very good condition. Housed in an orange marbled cardboard folder.
- The Royal Yacht 'Britannia' was launched 16th April 1953, commissioned 11th January 1954. It was in service from 1954 to 11th December 1997, when it was decommissioned. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660. This menu printed on the final year of the yacht's service is quite rare.

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Information

Ephemera category
ref number: 11315

Royal Menus.      
Four Royal Menus from various Royal Palaces.
1 -- Two from Windsor Castle. 23rd January and 20th June. 1908. 2 -- One from Buckingham Palace. Friday. November 26th 1982. 3 -- One from Barmoral Castle. 1st September. 1912.
1 -- Two clean but slightly age browned (one a little more than the other) menu cards, edged in gilt with the crest of Edward VII. One is printed and the other is in very small neat hand writing, both in French. 2 -- Very clean menu card, edged in gilt with the crest of Queen Elizabeth. A simple menu printed in French. 3 -- Clean but slightly age browned menu card, edged in gilt with the crest of George V. A simple menu written by hand in light blue ink, and in French. All housed in a cardboard, marbled folder with a label on the front cover.
- Looking at these menus, one is immediately struck by; A - The are all written in French including the dates. B - They are all in the same format and size. Considering they span nearly 80 years, it is amazing. This gives a singular impression that things do not change in the Royal Households. Still keeping a tradition of writing their daily menus in French and not English, especially since modern British cookery has developed its own repertoire to such a high level and British chefs now compare with the best France has to offer. Quite rare and interesting items of Royal ephemera spanning two Royal Castles, a Palace and three Monarchs.

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Information

Ephemera category
ref number: 10994

ROYAL WEDDING CAKE.      
BRIDE CAKE
made by HUNTLEY & PALMERS, LIMITED. for THE LADY ELIZABETH BOWES-LYON on the occasion of her Marriage with H.R.H. THE DUKE OF YORK, K.G. at WESTMINSTER ABBEY APRIL 26TH, 1923. With a finely illustrated border of two intertwining ribbons. The back cover is a little stained and the front cover has a couple of small smudges. Internally very clean.
210 x 172mm. Front cover with fine delicate drawing with the couple's portraits. Above them is the family crests. Underneath the wedding date of 1923. Beautifully delineated with silver and blue. Title page. [1] 2p of The Lady Elizabeth's noble background and her ancestral home of Glamis Castle. A full-page b/w photograph of the huge cake. [1] 9p of description of the tiers of the cake and the symbolism of the decoration. The back page with 2 illustrations of a standing Lion and Lioness. symbolising the couple's Royal connections. Housed in a sympathetic blue and silver marbled cardboard folder.
- Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from 1936 to 1952 as the wife of King George VI. As George's wife, she was the last empress of India. After her husband died, she was known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, the present Queen, Elizabeth II. Born into a family of British nobility, she only came to prominence in 1923 when she married the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance. In 1936, Elizabeth's husband unexpectedly became king when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth then became queen. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. After the war, her husband's health deteriorated, and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen. After the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the British royal family. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval. She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101 years, 238 days, which was seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret. This brochure of the Queen Mother's wedding cake was following a long Royal tradition of making public the details and pageantry of a Royal marriage, all carefully presented and choreographed. The cake had four tiers. The base Tier 7.5 feet in circumference. The decoration of all the tiers was very carefully inclusive and thought out, to include all the aspects of the couple's nobility and the various strands of ancestry and contemporary obligations. Described here in amazing detail. Very rarely found appearing on the market.

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Information

Ephemera category
ref number: 11316

Rundell.   Mrs     - A rare second edition - 1st issue.
A NEW SYSTEM OF DOMESTIC COOKERY;
FORMED UPON PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMY. And adapted to the Use of PRIVATE FAMILIES. BY A LADY. A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED. LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, FLEET-STREET; J.HARDING, ST.JAMES'S-STREET; AND A.CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH; At the Union Printing-Office, St.John's Square, by W.Wilson. 1807. Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence.
Small 12mo. 2nd edition - 1st issue. (The second issue has considerably more pages) 2feps. [1] Frontispiece. Title page. [1] (Entered at Stationers Hall) 1p Advertisement. 1p Directions to Binder. p18 Contents. 1-xxx Miscellaneous Observations with seven plates of carving meats. 1+2-323. [1] 1+326-351. 3p Advertisements. 2feps. Half crushed dark tan calf spine and corners with marbled boards. Spine with raised bands, gilt tooling and lettering. Original uncut paper edges. Internally, slightly dusty but overall very clean. A very nice copy.
- Maria Rundell was the original ‘domestic goddess.’ An elderly Edinburgh widow whose best-selling book on cookery, medicinal remedies and household management defined the perfect home. ‘A New System of Domestic Cookery’ was a publishing sensation in the early 1800s. It sold half a million copies and conquered America, and its profits helped found one of the Victorian era's most influential Edinburgh based publishing empires, one which boasted Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Benjamin Disraeli and Arthur Conan Doyle among its authors. Nearly 180 years after her death, the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh holds one of the most significant single collections of papers on 19th century literature. The ‘John Murray Archive’ compiled by the seven generations of Murrays, was recently bought by the library, for the staggering sum of £31,000,000, chiefly with lottery money. It includes 150,000 pages of letters, manuscripts and documents from some of the most significant thinkers, scientists and writers of modern history. Scholars have largely ignored Mrs Rundell, a friend of the Murrays and the widow of a surgeon from Bath, and overlooked her remarkable role in the company's success - a success soured by a bitter feud. In 1805, aged 61, she had sent the second John Murray, the son of the Scottish printer who set up a small publishers in London in 1768, an unedited collection of recipes, remedies and advice on running a home. She had compiled it originally for her seven daughters, and offered it to Murray free of charge. Murray recognised its potential. It was some 60 years since the first English cookery book had been written by Hannah Glasse, and Mrs Rundell's 'New System of Domestic Cookery, Formed upon Principles of Economy and Adapted to the Use of Private Families by a Lady', was about to become the bible for Britain's 19th century bourgeoisie. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes it as "the earliest manual of household management with any pretensions to completeness, it called forth many imitations". Stored in a double-locked 'cage' in the library's vault, Murray’s firm's 'subscriptions book' for November 21 1805 reveals advance sales of 310 copies. In July 1807 booksellers placed advance orders for 1,150 copies for this edition. By 1841 it had run to 65 British editions, selling 10,000 copies a year. It was snapped up in Britain's colony, America, where it was retitled "American Domestic Cookery and The Experienced American Housekeeper" and there ran to 37 editions, and was translated into German. It sold more than 245,000 copies in the UK, remaining in print until the 1880s. Its profits enabled Murray to buy one of the most famous addresses in literature - 50 Albemarle Street, Mayfair. Doubling up as the publisher's offices and home, Albemarle Street's drawing room became the location for some of the most influential gatherings in 19th century English literature. Murray's guests would include Isaac Disraeli, father of the future Prime Minister, George Canning, a Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister, Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron. The poet was one of Murray's biggest signings. The archive reveals that Mrs Rundell and her publisher soon fell out. In 1807, the year of this edition on offer, the author wrote angry letters about errors in the new edition. She said: "I am hourly struggling against my feelings, but they are grievously wounded." It had been "miserably prepared". Corrected editions soon appeared, but by 1814 their relationship had collapsed. Convinced Murray was neglecting her book, she offered a revised version to a rival, Longmans. They issued injunctions against each other. Mrs Rundell prevented Murray from republishing the book after his rights expired. Murray blocked her rival version, rightly claiming he had improved and "embellished" the book. Their battle ended in 1821, when the Lord Chancellor cancelled both injunctions and asked them to settle privately. In February 1823 a legal agreement records that Murray paid her "the sum of two thousand and one hundred pounds of good and lawful money". Later, Mrs Rundell moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, where she died in 1828, aged 83. It was only then that her authorship was revealed. Online, at auction, in dealer’s catalogues and in book shops, later editions by Rundell are numerous and very common. We are informed erroneously in some bibliographies, that this 1807 copy is the rare first edition. In fact the first was published 1805/1806 in a very small number. This copy is the equally scarce second edition, of which only a little over a thousand copies were published. This is an exceptionally clean, untrimmed copy; A real collectors item.

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Information

Antiquarian category
ref number: 11042

Sala.   George Augustus     - With a brief note signed by G.A. Sala
The Thorough Good Cook
A SERIES OF NOTES ON THE CULINARY ART AND NINE HUNDRED RECIPES BY GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE 1895 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST AND SOLE ENGLISH EDITION. 210x172mm. Paste-down and fep in designed paper. On verso of fep: a tipped-in note on Reform Club embossed paper stating "Reform Club: Thursday. Dr Sir a line to say that I shall be duly with you a little before 8. Faithfully Yours G.A. Sala. (underlined) The Rev. T. Shore." Half Title. Verso advertisement for Sala's books. Title Page. Verso with a small illustrated device titled 'Belle Sauvage'. (1)vi-viii Preface 1. (1)x-xiii Preface 11. (1)xv-xvii Preface 111. 2p Contents. [1] (1)2-467. [1] (1)470-492 Index. Fep and paste-down in designed paper. The fine tooled and embossed original cover with gilt still in very good condition but the spine and the back edge of covers are sunned. All edges gilt. Internally very clean and in very good condition. An uncommon book especially with the autographed note.
- George Augustus Sala, (see 1st photo below) the youngest son of Augustus Sala (1792-1828) and Henrietta Simon (1789-1860), was born on 24th November, 1828. After the death of his father, George's mother supported herself and five surviving children by teaching singing and giving annual concerts in London and Brighton. Educated at the Pestalozzian school at Turnham Green, Sala left at fifteen to become a clerk. Later he found work drawing railway plans during the Railway Mania of 1845. A talented artist, Sala also worked as a scene-painter at the Lyceum Theatre and in 1848 was commissioned to illustrate Albert Smith's 'The Man in the Moon'. This was followed by an illustrated guidebook for foreign tourists that was published by Rudolf Ackermann. Other work included prints of the Great Exhibition and the funeral of the Duke of Wellington. Sala was also interested in becoming a journalist and in 1851 Charles Dickens accepted his article, 'The Key of the Street', for his journal, 'Household Words'. This was the first of many of Sala's articles that Dickens published over the next few years. In April, 1856, Dickens sent Sala to Russia as the journal's special correspondent. He also contributed to the author's next venture, 'All the Year Round' and other journals such as the 'London Illustrated News', 'Punch Magazine' and 'Cornhill Magazine'. In 1857, Sala began writing for the 'Daily Telegraph'. For the next twenty-five years he contributed an average of ten articles a week. Although paid £2,000 a year for his work, Sala, who was an avid collector of rare books and expensive china, was always in debt. Sala loved traveling and in 1863 accepted the offer of becoming the Telegraph's foreign correspondent. Over the next few years he reported on wars and uprisings all over the world. During the Franco-German War he was arrested in Paris as a spy but was eventually released from prison. He wrote several books based on his travels including 'From Waterloo to the Peninsula' (1867), 'Rome and Venice' (1869), 'Paris' (1880), 'America Revisited' (1882), 'A Journey Due South' (1885) and 'Right Round the World' (1888). After leaving the Daily Telegraph Sala moved to Brighton where he attempted to start his own periodical, 'Sala's Journal'. The venture failed and left him deeply in debt and in early 1895 he was forced to sell his large library of 13,000 books. George Augustus Sala died at Brighton on 8th December, 1895. In an email I received from Linda Gifkins, she kindly informed me of a hitherto unknown edition of 'The Thorough Good Cook' printed by Brentano's - New York, Chicago, Paris, & Washington in 1896. Sala was twice married. His first wife, Harriet, whom he married in September 1859, died at Melbourne in December 1885. In 1891 he married a second wife, Bessie, third daughter of Robert Stannard, C.E., who survived him. Sala was a great friend of Alexis Soyer and was a member of the Reform Club whilst Soyer was the Chef de Cuisine there.

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Information

Antiquarian category
ref number: 11144

Salmon.   William     - The very scarce first edition of 1695.
The Family Dictionary; or Houshold Companion:
Wherein Alphabetically laid down Exact Rules and ChoicePhysical RECEIPTS FOR The Preservation of Health, Prevention of Sickness, and Curing the several Diseases, Distempers, and Grievences, incident to Men, Women, and Children. Also, Directions for Making Oils, Ointements, Salves, Cordial-Waters, Powders, Pills, Bolus's, Lozenges, Chymical Pre-parations, Physical-Wines, Ales, and other Liquors, &c. and Descriptions of the Virtues of Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Seeds, Roots, Barks, Minerals, and Parts of Living Crea-tures, Used in Medicinal Potions, &c. Likewise, Directions for Cookery, in Dressing Flesh, Fish, Fowl, Seasoning, Garnishing Sauces, and Serving-up in the Best and most acceptable Manner. The Whole ART of Patry, Conserving, Preserving, Candying, Confectionary &c. Also, The Way of Making all sorts of Perfumes, Beautifying-Waters, Pomatums, Washes, Sweet-Balls, Sweet-Bags, and Essences: Taking Spots, and Stains out of Garments, Lin-nen, &c. and Preserving them form Moths, &c. Wash-ing, or Brightning Tarnished Gold, or Silver Lace, Plate, &c. Together, With the Art of Making all sorts of English Mead, Metheglin, &c. And the ART of Fining, and Recovering Foul or Faded Wines. The MYSTERY of Pickling, and Keeping all Sorts of Pickles throughout the Year. To Which is Added, as an APPENDIX, The Explanation of Physical Terms, Bills of Fare in all Sea-sons of the Year. With the ART of CARVING. And many other Useful Matters. By J.H. London, Printed for W. Rhodes, at the Star, the Corner of Bride-Lane, in Fleetstreet, 1695.
FIRST EDITION. 12vo. 1fep. (missing first blank) Title page, slightly brittle at edges with no loss. On verso - Licensed, February the 28th 1695. 5p Preface. [1] AC-YO. (no page numbers, but complete.) 16p Appendix. 2fep. (one original) Pages uniformly age browned throughout. One page 'BL' has a 4" strip of the border with a very small loss of text. With modern full dark tan calf, with double fillets on the boards. Raised bands with blind tooled lines. With red label with gilt writing.
- Dr William Salmon, a noted Empiric, born 2nd of June 1644. According to an inscription under his portrait in ‘Ars Anatomica’, he studied and wrote a profusion of books on medicine, surgery, anatomy, pharmacology, astronomy, gardening, cookery, astrology, religion and translated several Latin medical classics into English. Salmon used the title of MD on his title pages, but according to Stanley H. Johnston, Jr., Curator of Rare Books at The Holden Arboretum, "most writers doubt that he was entitled to it. He still is somewhat difficult to assess since he is known to have amassed a 3,000 volume library containing many of the medical classics and produced several medical publications that were sufficiently erudite that his critics have claimed they were ghost-written for him." Rupert Halliwell at SimsReed Rare Books in London describes Salmon as a "learned man, with a taste for the obscure" and notes that his library, auctioned off after his death, "contained works in French, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, on medicine and other subjects." But his enemies asserted that his earliest education was from a charlatan with whom he travelled, and whose business he eventually inherited. And he seems ill-inclined to prove them wrong. He lived at a time long before hospitals had out-patient facilities. At this time "irregular practitioners" frequently lived near the gates of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. Their patients were those who could not or would not be admitted to the hospital. Salmon thus set up his stall near the Smithfield gate of St. Bartholomew's. It was there he "treated all diseases, sold special prescriptions of his own, as well as drugs in general, cast horoscopes, and professed alchemy," according to Norman Moore in his article about Salmon in the OUP's Dictionary of National Biography. Always game to write something different, in 1696, he published one of England's first cookery books. ‘The Family-Dictionary, or, Houshold Companion’. This volume is both a cookery book and a compendium of information for the home-maker, very much like the Household books of Isabella Beeton. It was meant to be the only household reference a housewife would need. Here is Salmon's very elegant recipe for Black-Pudding with no starch at all; To make this the best, and fare exceeding the common way. Boil the Umbles of a Hog tender, take some of the Lights [lungs] with the Heart, and all the Flesh about them, taking out the Sinews, and mincing the rest very small; do the like by the Liver: add grated Nutmeg, four or five Yolks of Eggs, a pint of Sweet Cream, a quarter of a pint of Canary [wine], Sugar, Cloves, Mace and Cinnamon finely powdered, a few Carraway-seeds, and a little Rose-water, a pretty quantity of Hog-fat, and some Salt: roul it up about two Hours before you put it into the Guts, then put it into them after you have rinsed them in Rose-water. The alphabetical format of Salmon's book is very strict so that the topic that immediately precedes ‘Black-Pudding’ is ‘Biting by a Snake, Adder, or Mad Dog.’ William Salmon’s name only appeared on the second edition, corrected and much enlarged of 1696 and with no mention of the J.H. on the title page of this copy. Oxford p45, cites the first of 1795; MacLean p128, the 4th of 1710 and a 4th with additions of 1734; Bitting p416, has the 1st and the 3rd of 1705. Cagle pp 706-707, cites the 1st and the 4th of 1710.

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Information

Antiquarian category
ref number: 11021

Sandford.   Francis     - A magnificent copy.
Coronation of James II
THE HISTORY OF THE CORONATION Of the Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent MONARCH, JAMES II. By the Grace of GOD, KING of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. DEFENDER OF THE FAITH &c. And of His Royal Consort QUEEN MARY: Solemnized in the Collegiate Church of St. PETER in the City of WESTMINSTER, on Thursday the 23 of April, being the Festival of St. George, in the Year of Our Lord 1685. With an Exact Account of the several Preparations in Order thereunto, Their MAJESTIES MOST Splendid Processions, and Their Royal and Magnificent FEAST in WESTMINSTER HALL. The Whole Work Illustrated with SCULPTURES. By HIS Majesties Especial Command. (With a large engraved vignette of the Royal Coat of Arms) By FRANCIS SANDFORD Esq; Lancaster Herald of Arms. In the Savoy: Printed by Thomas Newcomb, One of His Majesties Printers 1687.
Large Folio. 410x270mm. Marbled paste-down and endpaper. [2] 2fep with verso bearing name of 'Imprimatur'. Title Page in red and black text and engraved vignette finely rebacked. [1] 2p To the King. 1p James R. [1] 2p Preface. 2p Contents. 1-135. [1] 2feps. Back endpaper and paste-down marbled. Full polished calf, panelled elaborate gilt spine with raised bands, inner gilt fillets on the paste-down and gilt edges to the boards and pages. In all, 3 engraved vignettes and 31 engraved plates. That is 2 detailed plates of the Regalia, Ground plan of Westminster, ground plan of St. Peter, 2 views of the Cathedral of Westminster during the service, The Royal Couple after the in-thronization, ground plan of Westminster Hall showing the King and Queen's Dinner plan, inside of Westminster Hall showing the King and Queen at Dinner with the service of the first course of the Hot meal, Manner of Champions, with 2 extra plates of the magnificent Fireworks display on the Thames and the procession of William 11. These superb plates engraved by S.Moore, W.Sherwin, N.Yeates, Sturt and Collins. This copy is an early issue before some of the headpieces and initials were printed. Page 33 is present in two states, with and without the marginal engraving of five crowns. Lipperhide #2688 mentions only 28 plates with 2 reproductions. Ex-libris the Rev. William Bree, Rector of Allesley. A magnificent and desirable copy.
- Many a 'splendid occasion' in European history - coronation, royal wedding, funeral, beatification, embassy or triumphal entry - has been commemorated in an illustrated 'festival book.' Like a souvenir scrapbook, such volumes record memorable events down to their most fleeting aspects, eg; the food and the fireworks. Catholic Italy and France, eminent in opera and liturgy, were the chief producers of festival books. Even though England came late to the genre, 'The History of the Coronation of James II' is one of the most splendidly illustrated books of the seventeenth century. It served as a visual touchstone for subsequent coronations, almost inventing a tradition. British royal ceremonial is one of the few to survive intact, and it remains the most magnificent and brilliantly orchestrated. Here in thirty one double-page plates, drawn under the direction of the herald Francis Sandford, one may follow every detail of the procession and banqueting, from the discreet presence of the diarist Samuel Pepys, holding a pole of the canopy that shields the king, to the "1,445 dishes of the delicious viands" consumed that day. Henry Purcell, one of England's greatest composers, died in November 1695, and is buried in Westminster Abbey. At the time of the coronation of James II in 1685, Purcell was Keeper of the King's Instruments and Organist of the Chapel Royal. The introit ‘I Was Glad’ with its text taken from Psalm 122 was written by Purcell especially for the coronation. This is just one of the myriad of details that make the event so exceptionally well documented, thanks to Sandford’s book published two years after the Coronation. Of particular interest to the cookery book collector is the large chapter starting on p108 titled 'The Royal Feasts in Westminster Hall'. It contains a list of all 144 dishes placed on the table of the Peers and Peeresses. In all there is a breakdown of the placement of the total 1445 Dishes. There is also 2 beautiful plates of the table layout and the actual Dinner of the King and Queen. On p119, Patrick Lamb Esq, His Majesties Master-Cook (and author of "Royal Cookery' 1710; see item 11025 in this book-site.) is mentioned for his part in the feast, and on p127, his payment of £50 is documented. Sandford's book was so well received and so admired that in many ways it set the standards for great British Royal occasions of the future. These traditions are singularly unique and unchanged even today. In a diverse and fast changing world the magnificence of these fantastic Royal occasions still attracts huge interest around the world. To view these traditional and colourful pageants on TV and to then read the book, one gets a true historical sense of the continuity of the British Monarchy.

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Information

Antiquarian category
ref number: 11024

SAULNIER.   L.     - The very scarce first English edition - 1924. A fine copy.
LE REPERTOIRE DE LA CUISINE
Translated by E. BRUNET; Chef to the Duke of Roxburge. La bonne cuisine est la base du bonheur. A. ESCOFFIER. [an illustration of a young chef carrying a basket of fresh bread] 1st ENGLISH EDITION Coyrights 1914. On SALE LONDON: Maison ALLARD, 35a, Old Compton Street, W,1. PARIS: DUPONT & MALGAT, 40, Rue Coquilliere, 40. 1924.
190 x 130mm. 1fep. Half-title. [1] Title in red & black text. [1] Dedication to Auguste Escoffier. [1] vii Hors-d'Oeuvre a la Francaise. [1] ix-xi Preface. [1] xiii-xiv The Menu/The Wines. xv-xvi French Culinary Terms. xvii- xx The Index A-L. All the chapters have nice illustrations at the beginning and end. (1)2-236. 1fep. Internally very clean and tight. The original burgundy cardboard covers in very good condition. With the spine expertly and sympathetically re-laid with a nice dark red & gilt label. The front cover with the original indented gilt tooling. Their scarcity is attributed to the fact that many did not survive the harsh kitchen environment, the chefs greasy hands and being stored without thought. Most copies found are quite battered and worn. This copy has survived very well.
- The 'Repertoire de la Cuisine' was first published in France in 1914. It became, in France and the UK after being translated into English, the indispensable guide to the serious professional apprentice chef of classical cuisine. Louis Saulnier, a student of Auguste Escoffier, wrote this book (commonly called Le Répertoire) as a guide to his mentor's cooking and as a shorthand guide to 'Le Guide Culinaire' written and published by Escoffier 1903. The A-L index is based on the departments of a big classical kitchen brigade. A - Fundamental elements of cookery. B - Garnishes and Sauces. C - Hors-d'Oeuvre. D - Soups. E - Eggs. F - Fish. G - Entrees of Abats-Poultry and Game. H - Releves and Entrees of Butchers meat. I - Salads. J - Vegetables and Farinaceous Products. K - Sweets. L - Savouries. The complete list of all the French classical recipes in abbreviated form with no measurements nor quantities. Eg: The classic Sauce Chasseur - "Saute, swill with white wine, brandy, tomatoed half glace, add sliced mushrooms sauteed with chopped shallots, sprinkle with chopped parsley". To cook any recipe in the Repertoire requires a complete knowledge of all the classical terms, basic preparations and techniques. For the experienced chef it could also be viewed as a handy check-list. A fantastic culinary compendium that is equal to Escoffier's 'Aide Memoire'.

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Information

Modern category
ref number: 11205

SAULNIER.   L.     - The first English edition - nicely illustrated.
LE REPERTOIRE DE LA CUISINE
NB; Missing the following Title page. Translated by E. BRUNET; Chef to the Duke of Roxburge. La bonne cuisine est la base du bonheur. A. ESCOFFIER. [an illustration of a young chef carrying a basket of fresh bread] 1st ENGLISH EDITION Coyrights 1914. On SALE LONDON: Maison ALLARD, 35a, Old Compton Street, W,1. PARIS: DUPONT & MALGAT, 40, Rue Coquilliere, 40. 1924.
190 x 130mm. 1fep. Half-title. [1] Title Page missing [1] Dedication to Auguste Escoffier. [1] vii Hors-d'Oeuvre a la Francaise. [1] ix-xi Preface. [1] xiii-xiv The Menu/The Wines. xv-xvi French Culinary Terms, Full page hard card advert from Leon Jagegi. xvii- xx The Index A-L. All the chapters have nice illustrations at the beginning and end. (1)2-236. 2feps. Internally very clean and tight. The original burgundy cardboard covers slightly rubbed on edges. With the spine held firmly with clear tape showing the original dark text.. The front cover with the original indented, faded gilt tooling. Their scarcity is attributed to the fact that many did not survive the harsh kitchen environment, the chef's greasy hands and being stored without thought. Most copies found are quite battered and worn.
- The great French culinary manual used by all trained chefs as an aide-memoire and reference. Although no quantities are given most chefs don't need them as the book was used in their training colleges and they have not forgotten the quantities. It was needed mostly when the Chef de Cuisine put up on the notice board new seasonal menus or banquet menus. Then the chefs would use the Repertoire as a reminder. This is no longer the case. Due to more and more innovative menus and recipes with diverse ingredients used, the Repertoire is not consulted as it used to be. But, all trained professional chefs hold this book in high regard, although one wonders for how long. Even without the missing title-page, a very scarce copy.

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Modern category
ref number: 11304