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Ciacconius. Petrus - A very interesting medieval text with fine illustrations.
TOLETANUS DE TRICLINIO,
SIVE DE MODO CONVIVANDI Apud priscos Romanos, & de conviviorum apparatu. Accedit Fulfii Usini Appendix, & Hier Mercurialis De accubitusin coena Antiquoum origine, Differtatio. (a printers device) Amstelaedami, Apud Henricum Wetstenium. (a single line) MDCLXXXIX.
1689. 12mo. 129x79mm. 1 fep. Full page Frontis of title. [1] 3-5. Printed additional engraved title. [1] 4page Lectori. 2-109. 110-111 A full page engraving with an explanation. [1] De Triclinio Appendix [1] 115-382. 383-384 Half-title. [1] 385-445 De accubitu antiquorum. 1-23 Index. 1fep. 6 leaves of plates (5 folding), and numerous full-page engravings. Clean and solid text block. A quarter re-laid light brown leather spine, 2 red labels, gilt lines with gilt devices. Marbled boards with leather tips.
- The fifth edition of DE TRICLINO; third edition of DE TINTINABULIS (but the first to include Magis' treatise on the rack). An unusual mixture of Roman Gastronomy, Bell Ringing, and Torture. Pedro Chocón, also known as Petrus Ciacconius, (1526-1581) was a professor of Greek at the university of Salamanca who specialized in classical history. The headline text in this volume, De Triclinio, literally "on the dining room," examines the dining habits and customs of ancient Rome, with chapters on food and drink, etiquette and table dressing. Chocón's text is accompanied by an appendix by Fulvio Orsini. Orsini, the illegitimate son of a Knight Hospitaller of the famous Roman Orsini family, was an Italian humanist who specialized in editing and appendix-writing and befriended the painter El Greco. The De Triclinio is here bound with two treatises, the De Tintinnabulis and De Equuleo, by Girolamo Maggi, also known as Hieronymus Magius. Maggi was an Italian polymath who focused his efforts on military history and Roman burial customs and was captured by the Ottoman Turks when Cyprus was invaded in 1571. He wrote these two treatises in prison. De Tintinnabulis, on bell ringing and carillons, is often overlooked in favor of the De Equuleo, an early work focusing on the use of the torture rack. In this volume, the De Equuleo is amply illustrated with full-page engravings. Both of these treatises were published posthumously: Maggi died in prison of strangulation. Simon 344; Vicaire 174

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11123

Clermont. B.[Bernard] - The English translation of 'Les Soupers de la Cour' and 'La Cuisine Reformee'
The Professed Cook
OR, THE MODERN ART OF Cookery, Pastry, and Confectionary, MADE PLAIN AND EASY. Consisting of the most approved Methods in the FRENCH as well as ENGLISH COOKERY. IN WHICH The French Names of all the different Dishes are given and explained, whereby every Bill of Fare becomes intelligible and familiar. CONTAINING --- [Chapters I. to XXII] INCLUDING A TRANSLATION OF LES SOUPERS DE LA COUR; WITH THE Addition of the best Receipts which have ever appeared in the French or English Languages, and adapted to the London Markets. BY B. CLERMONT. Who has been many Years Clerk of the Kitchen in someof the first Families of this Kingdom, and lately to the Right Hon. the Earl of ABINGDON. The THIRD EDITION, revised and much enlarged. LONDON: Printed for W. DAVIS, in Picadilly; T CASLON, opposite Stationer's Hall: G. ROBINSON, in Paternoster-Row; F. NEWBERY, the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard; and the AUTHOR, in Princes-Street, Cavendish-Square. M.DCC.LXXVI.
8vo. Pp. Title Page. (i-x) 48pp 'Contents' (1-610) Fully bound in dark brown calf with blind tooled borders. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and lettering and a red label. Internally quite clean and tight, however some slight foxing to first part of contents page and the title page is browned and slightly worn.
- The English translation of Menon's two works 'Les Soupers de la Cour' and 'La Cuisine Reformee'. 'Les Soupers de la Cour' was first published in 1755 and deals with dining at its most lavish, not only the grand banquets but also the smaller dinner party for twenty or thirty people, at which over a hundred dishes might be served in five courses. "Menon's book covers menus, hors d'oeuvres, entrees, and some desserts. An entire chapter is devoted to sherbets or ices and ice cream. Like Marin that other great contemporary of Menon's, both placed emphasis on their sauces. Menon's recipes were surprisingly varied, coming not only from France but Italy, Germany, Ceylon, and Flanders and used in everything from hors d'oeuvres to desserts."-- (Harrison, 'Une Affaire du Gout' 1983.) Bernard Clermont first published his English translation in 1767 under the title of 'The Art of Modern Cookery Displayed' The second English edition of 1769 had the same contents as the first but the title was changed to 'The Professed Cook'. For this third edition, however, Clermont added a considerable amount of material of his own with Menon's original work taking less of a prominent place on the title-page even though the complete text is still present. (James Burmester - Abebooks.) Of interest is the large number of ice cream recipes, such as; Cinnamon Ice, Ices of Coriander Seed, Aniseed and Junpiper Berries as well as a very unusual selection of Iced Cheeses. A fine translation of two of the great early French culinary classics.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10944

Cobbett. William
Cottage Economy
CONTAINING In relative to the brewing of BEER, making of BREAD, keeping of COWS, PIGS, BEES, EWES, GOATS, POULTRY, and RABBITS, and relative to other matters deemed useful in the conducting of the Affairs of a Labourer's Family; to which are added, Instructions relative to the selecting, the cutting and the bleaching of the Plants of ENGLISH GRASS and GRAIN, for the purpose of making HATS and BONNETS; and also Instructions for erecting and using Ice-Houses after the Virginian manner. BY WILLIAM COBBETT. SIXTEENTH EDITION. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY ANNE COBBETT, 137, STRAND. 1843.
2feps. Title Page, verso with Camden library stamps. 1pp Contents. [1] 5-181. [1] Engraved picture of 'Ice Houses' 1-12 List of Mrs. Cobbett's Books. 2feps. Fully Bound in modern dark brown calf with blind tooled borders. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and tooling and gilt lettering. Internally very clean with overall slight age browning. Sometime repair to title page with loss of two letters. A scarce copy.
- William Cobbett was born in Farnham, Surrey, on 9 March 1763, the son of a tavern owner. He was taught to read and write by his father, and first worked as a farm labourer. He was an English political pamphleter, farmer and prolific journalist. He thought that the reform of Parliament and the abolition of the rotten boroughs would help cure the poverty of the farm labourers. Cobbett constantly attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters". He opposed the Corn Laws, a tax on imported grain. Through the many apparent inconsistencies in Cobbett's life, one strand continued to run: an ingrained opposition to authority and a suspicion of novelty. Early in his career, he was a "loyalist" supporter of King and Country; later, he joined (and successfully publicised) the radical movement which led to the Reform Bill of 1832 and him winning the parliamentary seat of Oldham. He wrote ten main books of which 'Rural Rides' is perhaps his best known. The first edition of Cottage Economy was published 1816.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10929

Cocke. Thomas - A rare treatise on rules for food and purified water.
Kitchin-Physick:
OR, Advice to the POOR, By way of DIALOGUE Betwixt Philantbropos, } { Physician, Eugenins, } { Apothecary, Lazarus } { Patient. WITH Rules and Directions, how to prevent sick-ness, and cure Diseases by Diet, and such things as are daily fold in the Market : As also, for the better enabling of Nurses, and such as attend sick people ; There be-ing nothing as yet extant (though much desired of this Nature. (one long horizontal line) Parve nec invideo, &c. Ovid de Trift. (one long horizontal line) London, Printed for J.B. who desires the Reader to take notice that he is the next week to return this Book to the Clark, or pay 12d. [the whole text surrounded by a double line border].
FIRST EDITION 1675. 12vo. 150 x 95mm. Ex-Libris label on front paste-down. Ex-Libris label of "W. William Cock M.D." dated 1899 tipped onto the 1st fep. A 2nd fep. Title page. [1] p4 Epistle Dedicatory, by "Thom. Cocke". 1-4 Advertisement to the Patient. 5-87. Last page is printed: "Finis part the first". [1] 1fep. Pages age browned with a few spots of foxing. Pages cropped on top without loss. Dark brown early calf boards. Chips missing to leather spine. Front joint with loss of leather. Holding well, not detracting. Gilt tooling and lettering on maroon leather label and spine. Has a nice patina.
- This is a book of food recipes that have been written as a dialogue rather than a list. The four chapters cover the four metabolic humors in the body according to the theory and practice of Greek Medicine. Thomas Cocke seems to have been a sincere, sympathetic and experienced Physician of his time. The book itself and publishing dates are frustrating to tie down. What little information there is confuses. Oxford p3. 8/39 has a dated copy printed for the Author, by T. Basset at the George near Clifford's Inne in Fleet Street. 1676. He carries on and states that "the book is rules for the use of food", Describing the title page of the second part as a "Practical and short Discourse of stoving and bathing". There is also a plate of a bath and the preface is signed by Thomas Cocke, but there is no stated date. Beside this dated first part and undated second part of Oxford's copy, we can on p435 of Cagle's huge bibliographical catalogue 'A Matter of Taste', see another copy, with his first part also undated but the second part present and dated 1675. Cagle curiously assumes dates for both parts of the first edition as 1675. He further informs that Wing gives separate numbers for each part. All of the first parts end with "Finis part the first", with the two parts usually bound together. The first and only edition of the second part, 'Miscelanea Medica', was issued together with several later editions of 'Kitchin Physick'. Its ventured that some of the first editions did not always appear with the second part bound in. This copy could to be one of those. This binding is later 18th century and does not appear to have had the 2nd part. It also does not make sense to have the two parts originally bound together then separate them. It is also very curious that the first part of Cagle's first edition is undated while his 1675 second part is. The first conclusion one can make is that the parts were written and printed separately by Thomas Cocke and bound together later. This would also explain why Cocke published later dated editions of the first part but only used the one dated second part of the first edition. The second conclusion is that Cocke published the undated first earlier than 1675, and was working on a second part that came later. That would also explain why p87 on every first part, ends with "Finis part the first". He always intended to add a second part. There is one other interesting fact about this copy. The large ex-libris bookplate of F. William Cock MD, under which is written in his hand, (one assumes) an in-distinguishable coded reference. On the opposite front inside cover, 'By Thomas Cocke Physician', is written in ink by the same hand. One wonders whether they were related and William Cock M.D. had done some successful corroborative research. Finally, this is a small treatise on diet and cookery for sickness. These books cannot be separated from any collection of early cookery books. Except for the cookery books published for Royal Households, Restaurants, Taverns etc, that displayed only recipes for food, a large percentage of others, mainly 18th century published works combined food and medical recipes together. An interesting copy of a rare book.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11331

Coghan. Thomas
THE HAVEN OF HEALTH.
Cheifely gathered for the comfort of Students, and consequently of all those that have a care of their health; amplified upon five words of Hypocrates, written Epid.6. Labor, Cibus, Potie, Somnus, Venus. Hereunto is added, a preservation form the Pestilence, with a short censureof the late sickness in Oxford. By Thomas Coghan, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Physicke. Ecclesiasicus oap.37.30. By surfeit have many perished: but he that dieteth himselfe prolongeth his life. The fourth Edition, corrected and amended. LONDON, Printed by Anne Griffin, for Roger Ball, and are to be sold at his shop without Temple-barre, at the Golden Anchor next the Nags-head Taverne. 1636.
Small 4to. 2feps with bookplates of Aldenham and W.G. Peene. Title page. [1] 8p Epistle Dedicatorie. 6p To the Reader. 1+2-321. [1] 22p The Table. 2feps. Modern quarter calf with marbled boards, slightly rubbed. Spine with gilt lines and black label with gilt lettering. Title page age darkened. Some soiling and marginal damp-staining. C1 defective with lower outer portion torn. Closed tear to E4. Lower outer corner of H3 torn without loss of text. Final leaf (V4) slightly damp frayed and with two small worm holes affecting lettering of final line of recto. Small neat scattered pencil marginalia throughout especially on the feps.
- The first printed English cookery book, the ‘Boke of Cokery’ produced by Pynson in 1500, was based on 15th-century texts. There was no immediate rush to print cookery books; what did appear were books of advice on diet and health, and on household and estate management, two areas which are often associated with receipts in medieval manuscripts. The best known of the first type are Sir Thomas Elyot’s 'Castel of Health'. 1539, (see item 11253 on this site) and Andrew Boorde’s ‘Dyetary of Health’ circa 1542. The two books are remarkably similar, giving advice on healthy lifestyle based on Galen, although both authors offer comments on what is suitable for Englishmen, thus adapting Galenic theory to their readers. Thomas Coghan, a later rival to these authors, based his 'Haven of Health' (1584) on Elyot, but changed the order of his book to follow Hippocrates rather than Galen, and supplied a much more extensive commentary on a wider variety of herbs than the earlier writer. In these texts one can begin to discern signs of change at the dinner-table, with Elyot’s remarks on the wholesomeness of beef for the healthy Englishman, and with Coghan’s comments on salads, eaten at the beginning of the meal, and on apple tarts, eaten at the end. The second type of publication is best represented by Thomas Tusser’s doggerel writings, ‘A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie’ 1557, expanded to 'Five Hundreth Points' in 1573. The expanded version gives advice to housewives, stressing their role as providers of care and medicines for the sick, as well as managers of the daily routine of the household. Thomas Coghan advised students to breakfast on light, digestible foods, to avoid overloading the stomach with a variety of meats at one meal, to cut down on salt and to drink milk as a counteractant to melancholy. He recognized that excessive study made students prone to mental breakdown and recommended that they take regular breaks from study to avoid exhausting their mental energy, and that they refresh their minds with recreations such as music or games” (Norman 493). “It is a book of good sense… By the use of ‘one dish onely at one meale, and drinking thereto but small drinke’ he became slender” (Osler 2331). Coghan divided preventative health into five categories: labor or exercise of body and mind, eating, drinking, sleeping and sexual relations. Includes recipes for a variety of healthy drinks, including aqua vitae, rofa solis, cinnamon water, wormwood wine and buttered beer. Norman 493. STC 5481. Lowndes, 487. See Cagle 621-22, Osler 2331-33, Walleriana 2036.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11045

Cole. Mary The Third edition very much improved.
THE LADY's COMPLETE GUIDE;
or, COOKERY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES CONTAINING The most approved Receipts, confirmed by Observation and Practice, in every reputable English Book of Cookery now extant; besides a great Variety of others which have never before been offered to the Public. Also several translated from the productions of Cooks of Eminence who have published in France, particularly the Duke de Nivernois's, M. Commo's Historie de Cuisine, M. Di-sang's Maitre d' Hotel, M. Valois, and M. Delatour, with their respective Names to each Receipt; which, with the ORIGINAL ARTICLES, form the most complete System of Cookery ever yet exhibited, under the following Heads, viz. ROASTING, SOUPS, TARTS, BOILING, SAUCES, PIES, MADE -DISHES, GRAVIES, PASTIES, FRYING, HASHES, CHEESECAKES. BROILING, STEWS, JELLIES, POTTING, PUDDINGS, PICKLING, FRICASSEES , CUSTARDS, PRESERVING, RAGOUTS, CAKES, CONFECTIONARY, &c. To which is added, in order to render it as complete and perfect as possible, A LIST OF EVERY THING IN SEASON, SEVERAL OF FARE, AND AN ELEGANT COLLECTION OF LIGHT DISHES FOR SUPPER. ALSO THE COMPLETE BREWER; CONTAING Familiar Instructions for brewing all Sorts of Beer and Ale; including the proper Management of the Vault or Cellar. LIKEWISE THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN; Consisting of a considerable Collection of approval Prescriptions by Mead, Sydenham, Tissot, Fothergill, Elliot, Buchan, and Other. (two full length double lines) BY MRS. MARY COLE, Cook to the Right Hon. The Earl of Drogheda. (two full length double lines) LONDON: PRINTED FOR G. KEARSLEY, NO. 46, FLEET-STREET. 1791.
8vo. 204 x 137mm. 1fep. Half-title. [1] Title page. [1] v-viii Preface. (1)x-xiv Cook & Housewife's Calendar. (1)xvi-xx Proper Articles to cover the Table every Month. xxi-xxii Family Suppers. xxiii-xxiv Specimen of a House-keeping Books. xxv-xxxii Marketing Tables. xxxiii-Iii Contents. (1)2 - 440. 441 - 460 Index. 1fep. Full dark brown calf. Original spine with faded gilt tooling and red label. The text block very clean except for the half-title and last page which are quite dusty. Overall a nice copy.
- In Petits Propos Culinaires; booklet # 43, there is a well-written and informative article by Fiona Lucraft on recipe plagiarism of cookery books. Aimed primarily at John Farley the Head Chef of the London Tavern and 18th century author of the well-known cookery book titled; 'The London Art of Cookery' (see on this site for the 1st edition of 1783: item #11035). The extensively researched plagiarism highlights the other key authors whose recipes Farley copied. This article throws by default, Mary Cole's well documented declaration of the source of the recipes she used or copied in her own cookery book, claiming full credit in her preface for this new and transparent innovation. Lucraft in her PPC notes, surmises at the end of her article that Cole herself also bears scrutiny. She found after researching the Cole recipes where no source is declared, that they came from Farley. She further cites Jilly Lehman in her French Thesis on 18th century cookery books, whereby Lehman informs that William Verral, Clermont and Dalrymple are also sources not credited for their recipes by Mary Cole. Another puzzling note brought to our attention by Virginia Maclean in her STC of Cookery Books: 1701-1800, is the fact that Cole cites six French authors on her title-page and three others in her preface. Nine in total. Only one, 'Clermont', can be identified. Maclean further queries of the other eight, whether they had cookery books of which no other trace has survived. Maclean ventures an alternative hypothesis. That Cole adds those French names to make fun of those English cookery book authors who parade foreign names on their title pages. Either scenario involves modifying previous good impressions of Cole and her cookery book. Never the less her book is not only cookery recipes, but gives comprehensive medical and brewing information. Axford p244. Bitting, 94. Cagle 623. Maclean, page 29. Oxford, p117-119. Simon BG 363.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11302

Collingwood. F and Woolams. J. - The very scarce 2nd edition.
THE UNIVERSAL COOK,
AND City and Country Housekeeper. CONTAINING ALL THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF COOKERY: THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF DRESSING Butchers Meat, Poultry, Game, and Fish; AND OF PREPARING GRAVIES, CULLICES, SOUPS, AND BROTHS; TO DRESS ROOTS AND VEGETABLES, AND TO PREPARE Little elegant Dishes for Supper or light repasts: TO MAKE ALL SORTS OF PIES. PUDDINGS, PANCAKES, AND FRITTERS; CAKES, PUFFS, AND BISCUITS; CHEESECAKES, TARTS, AND CUSTARDS; CREAMS AND JAMS; BLANC MANGE, FLUMMERY, ELEGANT ORNAMENTS, JELLIES, AND SYLLABUBS. The various Articles in CANDYING, DRYING, PRESERVING, AND PICKLING. THE PREPARATION OF HAMS, TONGUES, BACON, &C. DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING POULTRY, CARVING, AND MARKETING. THE MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF Made Wines, Cordial Waters, and Malt Liquors. TOGETHER WITH Directions for Baking Breads, the Management of Poultry and the Dairy, and the Kitchens and Fruit Garden; with a Catalogue of the Various articles in Season in the different Months of the Year. BESIDES A VARIETY OF USEFUL AND INTERESTING TABLES. The Whole Embellished with The Heads of the Authors, Bills of Fare for every Month in the Year, and proper Subjets for the Improvement of the Art of Carving, elegantly engraved on Copper-Plates. By FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD, AND JOHN WOOLLAMS. Principal Cooks at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand ---- Late from the London Tavern. THE SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED BY R. NOBLE, FOR J. SCATCHERD, NO. 12, AVE-MARIA-LANE. 1797.
8vo. 1fep. Half title. [2] Frontispiece of both authors. Title page. [1] 4p. Preface. 20p Contents. 12 engraved plates of bills of fare for every month, with each verso blank. (curiously there is a light water stain only on the plates. Not objectionable) (1)2-432. 433-444 A Catalogue. 445-451 Marketing Tables. 1p Advertising. 1fep. Original full dark calf covered boards with blind tooled lines on the boards. The sympathetically re-laid spine has raised bands and gilt lines. With a brown label and gilt lettering. Overall has a nice patina. Besides the light stain on the plates, the text block is very clean.
- F. Collingwood and J. Woollams had the unique distinction of having their first edition of ‘The Universal Cook’ of 1792, being translated into French and sold in France. Published in Paris in 1810 it was re-named ‘ Le Cuisinier Anglais Universal ou le Nec Plus Ultra de la Gourmandise’. This was the time of the war with Napoleon, but the reputation of London food and its Cooks stood high with foreigners. The first smart restaurant to open in Paris the same year as ‘The Universal Cook’ was published, was called La Grande Taverne de Londres, after the London Tavern, where John Farley its famous Chef was serving his tenure. Collingwood and Woollams had also had a spell at the London Tavern, so one assumes they were as well known as Farley. This is a nice copy of the second edition printed seven years after the first. The illustration of the two authors as the book frontispiece are quite delicately etched and not as heavy handed as in later editions. With the bookplate of the famous cookery book collector - Lord Westbury, tipped onto the front paste-down.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11131

Collingwood. F and Woolams. J. - The very rare first edition.
THE UNIVERSAL COOK,
AND City and Country Housekeeper. CONTAINING ALL THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF COOKERY: THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF DRESSING Butchers Meat, Poultry, Game, and Fish; AND OF PREPARING GRAVIES, CULLICES, SOUPS, AND BROTHS; TO DRESS ROOTS AND VEGETABLES, AND TO PREPARE Little elegant Dishes for Supper or light Repasts: TO MAKE ALL SORTS OF PIES. PUDDINGS, PANCAKES, AND FRITTERS; CAKES, PUFFS, AND BISCUITS; CHEESECAKES, TARTS, AND CUSTARDS; CREAMS AND JAMS; BLANC MANGE, FLUMMERY, ELEGANT ORNAMENTS, JELLIES, AND SYLLABUBS. The various Articles in CANDYING, DRYING, PRESERVING, AND PICKLING. THE PREPARATION OF HAMS, TONGUES, BACON, &C. DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING POULTRY, CARVING, AND MARKETING. THE MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF Made Wines, Cordial Waters, and Malt Liquors. Together with Directions for Baking Bread, the Management of Poultry and the Dairy, and the Kitchens and Fruit Garden; with a Catalogue of the Various articles in Season in the different Months of the Year. Besides a Variety of USEFUL AND INTERESTING TABLES. The Whole Embellished with The Heads of the Authors, Bills of Fare for every Month in the Year, and proper Subjets for the Improvement of the Art of Carving, elegantly engraved on fourteen Copper-Plates. By FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD, AND JOHN WOOLLAMS. Principal Cooks at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand, Late from the London Tavern. LONDON: PRINTED BY R. NOBLE, FOR J. SCATCHERD AND J. WHITAKER, NO. 12, AVE-MARIA-LANE. 1792.
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. 2feps with 2 previous owners signatures. Half title. [2] Frontispiece of both authors. Title page. [1] 2p. Preface. 20p Contents. 12 engraved plates of bills of fare for every month, with each verso blank. (curiously they have been bound in out of monthly order. All are present). (1)2-432. 433-444 A Catalogue of seasonal articles. 445-451 Marketing Tables. 2feps. Original full dark calf covered boards with blind tooled lines on the boards. The spine with blind tooled lines. With a dark red label and gilt lettering. Overall has a nice patina. Besides very light age browning to frontispiece and plates , the text block is very clean. Overall, a nice copy.
- F. Collingwood and J. Woollams were the Principal cooks at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the south side of the Strand, London WC1. Strype the historian informs us, that in 1729 an original tavern called the Crown occupied the same site. The Anchor was added to the name shortly after that date, in honour of St Clements Church nearby; an anchor being the emblem of the patron saint who suffered his martyrdom by being cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. The site began a few doors down Arundel St. and extended to Milford Lane. It had an entrance from the Strand thro’ a narrow courtyard. The tavern was very famous and very well frequented by the rich, famous and important members of English high society. Dr Johnson made it his second home. Taking his daily walks with his friend Boswell past Temple Bar, going westward, the Crown and Anchor was their port of call and also of many of their confreres. It was here that Dr Jonson’s famous spat with Percy took place. The Academy of Music was first started at the Tavern. The house was pulled down in 1790 and rebuilt. A very large banqueting room was erected, measuring 85x36 feet, and when packed could hold 2500 guests. It was first opened on the occasion of a birthday dinner given to Charles James Fox, M.P. and presided over by the Duke of Norfolk. The room was used for fine balls and political meetings of both the Tories and radical Parties; anyone in fact who could pay the high prices. The Tavern became the headquarters of one party or another during the Westminster parliamentary elections. It is recorded that Daniel O’Conner M.P., Brougham Cobbet, Sir Francis Burdett and others, held meetings that always crowded the room. After the 1790 rebuild, the first landlord was a famous, very large obese man; Thomas Simkin. He famously died by leaning on the upstairs banister, and calling down some instructions, the banister gave way under his huge weight and he toppled to his death below. The Tavern had elegant booths opened for their customers at the courses during the racing season and the main fairs. As well as refreshments they also held dances. Sadly, in 1854 the Tavern burned down. Afterwards the Duke of Norfolk built Arundel House on the site and further afield. This great Tavern is the establishment where Collingwood and Woollams established their substantial reputation. They had the unique distinction of having this first edition of 1792; ‘The Universal Cook’, being translated into French and sold in France. Published in Paris in 1810 it was re-named ‘ Le Cuisinier Anglais Universal ou le Nec Plus Ultra de la Gourmandise’. This was the time of the war with Napoleon, but the reputation of London food and its Cooks stood high with foreigners. This book is a record of professional 18th century English gastronomy, as opposed to the cookery books written for the housewife. As can be read on the title page, it has extensive instructions for all the tasks undertaken in such an important Tavern and its Kitchen. The equally rare second edition was published in 1797 with very little change; see item ref #: 11131. See also, item ref #: 11035 for a rare dinner invitation to the Crown and Anchor Tavern when Collingwood and Woolllams were the head cooks.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11227

Collingwood. F. and Woolams. J. - Purchased in India during the British Raj
THE UNIVERSAL COOK,
AND City and Country Housekeeper. CONTAINING ALL THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF COOKERY: THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF DRESSING Butchers Meat, Poultry, Game, and Fish; AND OF PREPARING GRAVIES, CULLICES, SOUPS, AND BROTHS; TO DRESS ROOTS AND VEGETABLES, AND TO PREPARE Little elegant Dishes for Supper or light repasts: TO MAKE ALL SORTS OF PIES. PUDDINGS, PANCAKES, AND FRITTERS; CAKES, PUFFS, AND BISCUITS; CHEESECAKES, TARTS, AND CUSTARDS; CREAMS AND JAMS; BLANC MANGE, FLUMMERY, ELEGANT ORNAMENTS, JELLIES, AND SYLLABUBS. THE VARIOUS ARTICLES IN CANDYING, DRYING, PRESERVING, AND PICKLING. THE PREPARATION OF HAMS, TONGUES, BACON, &C. DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING POULTRY, CARVING, AND MARKETING. THE MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF Made Wines, Cordial Waters, and Malt Liquors. TOGETHER WITH Directions for Baking Breads, the Management of Poultry and the Dairy, and the Kitchens and Fruit Garden; with a Catalogue of the Various articles in Season in the different Months of the Year. BESIDES A VARIETY OF USEFUL AND INTERESTING TABLES. THE WHOLE EMBELLISHED WITH THE HEADS OF THE AUTHORS, BILLS FOR EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR, AND PROPER SUBJECTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE ART OF CARVING, ELEGANTLY ENGRAVED ON FOURTEEN COPPER-PLATES. By FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD, and JOHN WOOLLAMS. Principal Cooks at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand ---- Late from the London Tavern. THIRD EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM, Dean Street, Fetter Lane, FOR J. STACHARD, No. 12, AVE-MARIE-LANE; H.D. SYMONDS AND HURST, PATERNOSTER-ROW; RICHARDSONS, ROYAL EXCHANGE; MARSH AND DUNSFORD, FLEET-STREET; GARNER, WESLEY, AND STARND, STRAND; LAKING, CURZON-STREET; DANGERFIELD, BERKLEY-SQUARE; MILLAR, AND JORDAN HOOKHAM BOND-STREET; KIRBY, OXFORD-STREET; LINDSELL, WIMPOLE-STREET; LLOTD, CAVENDISH-STREET;--1801.
8vo. 2feps. Half title. [2] Frontispiece of both authors. Title page. [1] 4p. Preface. 20p Contents. 12 engraved plates of bills of fare for every month. (1)2-432. 433-444 A Catalogue. 445-451 Marketing Tables. [1] Advertising. 2feps. Half dark brown modern calf with marbled boards and calf corners. The pages very lightly age browned with some manuscript notes. There an interesting manuscript note on the first page of recipes; "Bought this book from Col. David Smothen [?] and gave him 8 rupees for Mrs Smothen".(Probably a frugal mem-sahib selling the book before leaving for England). The whole text block has been trimmed slightly without loss of text. The third appears to be a very scarce edition, as none are cited in the bibliographies. A nice copy.
- F. Collingwood and J. Woollams had the unique distinction of having their first edition of ‘The Universal Cook’ of 1792, being translated into French and sold in France. Published in Paris in 1810 it was re-named ‘ Le Cuisinier Anglais Universal ou le Nec Plus Ultra de la Gourmandise’. This was the time of the war with Napoleon, but the reputation of London food and its Cooks stood high with foreigners. The first smart restaurant to open in Paris the same year as ‘The Universal Cook’ was published, was called La Grande Taverne de Londres, after the London Tavern, where John Farley its famous Chef was serving his tenure. Collingwood and Woollams had also had a spell at the London Tavern, so one assumes they were as well known as Farley. In spite of the fame and glory of Collingwood and Woollams’ book being translated into French, the French publisher had qualms. In his introduction, he wrote: “The English must eat well, look at their 'embonpoint!' If occasional recipes seem odd, they will at least, 'cher lecteur,' broaden your experience, acquainting you with ‘le catchup’ and ‘le browning’ which are unknown even to our best chefs.” In this age, with our British chefs feeling a need to bow in humble acknowledgement of the superior French culinary tradition and possible superior expertise (although this has definitely been changing in recent years) one is surprised by the above words of the French publisher. Collingwood and Woollams in turn, inform us grandly in their Preface: ‘We shall not attempt to ransack the annals of Antiquity, with a view to discover what was the food of our first parents in the garden of Eden, or in the manner they performed their culinary operation: It is sufficient for us to know a[t] present, that Cookery is become a Science, that every age has contributed its mite to the improvement of this art, which seems now to have reached a very high degree of perfection.’ Interesting! – I’m sure, Joel Robuchon, Gorden Ramsey, Paul Bocuse, Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stien, Alain Ducasse et al, are saying the same thing now, and that the great cooks of two or three generations hence, will express the same sentiments; How things change, but ultimately stay the same!.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10972

COOKE. Mordecai Cubitt
A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT OF BRITISH FUNGI.
by M.C. COOKE. (a single small line). A coloured illustration of a bright orange 'Pexina Ourantia' mushroom). (a single small line). LONDON. ROBERT HRARDWICKE, 192, PICADILLY.
Second Edition. 12mo. 158 x 114 mm. Inside cover and 1fep in dark brown paper. Frontis of coloured illustration of two mushrooms on verso of fep. Ornate Title Page. [1] Second Title page dated 1871. [1] (1)iv Preface. 1p Contents. 1 p Adverts. 2p List of Coloured plates. (1)2-124. (1)126-162 The Tubular Arrangement of British fungi. (1)164-166 Index. Inside cover and fep in dark brown paper. Fully bound in pebble-grain green cloth. With an attractive blind-tooled cover and gilt illustration and gilt titles to the spine. All 24 hand-coloured lithographic plates present. Ver clean inside. Overall a very well-preserved copy.
- The author, (image # 1. below) Mordecai Cubitt Cooke; 1825 - 1914, was an English botanist and mycologist. Cooke came from a mercantile family and was born in Horning, Norfolk, and worked as an apprentice to a fabric merchant before becoming a clerk in a law firm, but his chief interest was in botany. He founded the Society of Amateur Botanists in 1862. He taught natural history at Holy Trinity National School, Lambeth, London and worked as a curator at the India Museum at India Office from 1860 to 1879. In 1879 when the botanical collections from the India Museum were transferred to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Cooke went with them. He received the Victoria Medal of Honour from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902 and the Linnean Medal from the Linnean Society of London in 1903. He was awarded several honorary diplomas for his work, primarily with fungi, also a Master of Arts from St. Lawrence University in 1870, a Master of Arts from Yale University in 1873 and a doctorate from the New York University. His books are very well researched and presented and a pleasure to read.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11298