OldCooksBooks.com


Showing page 10 of 43 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Careme. Marie Antonin
Le Maitre d'hotel Francaise
2 VOLUMES -- LA MAITRE-D'HOTEL FRANCAIS, TRAITE DES MENUS A SERVIR A PARIS, A ST-PETERSBOURG, A LONDRES ET A VIENNE; PAR ANTONIN CAREME, auteur du Patissier Royal Parisien, - du Patissier Pittoresque, du Cuisinier Royal Parisien et de l'Art de la Cuisine Francaise au xix seicle. NOUVELLE EDITION. REVUE, CORRIGEE ET AUGMENTEE. TOME PREMIER. PARIS. Au depot principal, rue Therese, 11: ET CHEZ MM. J. RENOUARD et Cie, libraiares, 8 rue de Tournon. MAISON,, libraire, 29, quai des Augustins. MANSUT,libraire, 30, place St-Andre-des-Arts. DAUVIN et FONTAINE, libr, pass des Panorams. TRESSE, libraire, galerie de Chartres. DENTU, libraire, Palais-Royal. A LONDRES, CHEZ W. JEFFS, 15 BURLINGTON-ARCADE. 1842. TOME SECOND - (identical title page) 1842.
8vo. Volume 1. 1fep. Engraved frontispiece of two Chefs in uniform of a design by Careme. . Engraved Title page designed by Careme. Title-page. [1] 3pp. Dedication. [1] IX-XI Notice De M. le Marquis de Cussy. [1] 1-4pp. Avant-Propos. 5-352. 12 folding printed menus. 2 very large folding plates. 1fep. Volume 2. 1fep. half-title. Title page. [1] 1-282. 13 folding printed menus. 4 long folding plates of table settings. 2 large folding plates of Grand Buffets de la Cuisine Moderne. 1fep. Both volumes with dark tan spines with gilt lines and lettering, Also with brown marbled boards. Pastedown and end-papers marbled. Text and pages very clean. A very scarce item, especially in this condition.
- This is the second edition of 1842. The first edition was 1822. La Maitre d'Hotel Francaise is a fascinating and unusual cookery book. It describes the hundreds of menus he created and cooked in the capitals of Europe including many of his trademark lavish Buffets. The work is a testament to his monumental talent and shows a career that really took off when he left Talleyrand's service in 1815 to go and work in Brighton for the Prince Regent and after for Tsar Alexander followed by a time in Paris as Chef to the British Ambassador. Careme was among other things a self-taught artist and all the plates in these volumes are from his designs. (Maggs Bros Cat.1374.)

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 10999

Careme. Marie Antonin
Le Patissier Pittoresque
LE PATISSIER PITTORESQUE, compose et dessine par M. ANTONIN CAREME, de PARIS, contenant cent vignt-cinq planches gravees au trait, dont cent-dix representent une variete de modeles de pavillions, rotondes, temples, ruins, tours, belvederes, forts, cascades, fountaines, maisons et hermitages; precede d'un Traite des cinq ordres d' Architecture, salon Vignole; auquel on a joint des details des ordres Cariatude, Poestum, Egyptien, Chinois et Gothique; tires du Parallele des Monumens antiques et modernes. Troisieme edition, revue, tres augmentee. A. Paris, Chez MM. J. Renourd et Cie, Tresse, Mansut, Maison, et au depot principal, rue Therese, n. 11 et a Londres, W. Jeffs, 15 Burlington-Arcade. 1842.
4th Edition. Half-Title. (List of Careme's books on verso) Engraved Title page designed by Careme.[1] Title Page.[1] 2pp Dedication to A. Monsieur Muller. 3pp Avertissement.[1] 2pp Table des Matieres. IX-XV. [1] 1-56. 1-123 Engraved Plates with versos blank. 2 Un-numbered plates with designs and versos blank. Pastedown and end-papers marbled. All the text pages very lightly browned. All the plates of pastry architecture very clean. Black morocco binding with black leather spine with gilt lettering and lines. Binding very slightly rubbed. Overall a good copy of a scarce book.
- Careme was born in Paris and abandoned there by destitute parents in 1792 at the height of the French Revolution. He worked as a kitchen boy at a cheap Parisian chophouse in exchange for room and board. In 1798, he was formally apprenticed to Sylvain Bailly, a famous pâtissier with a shop near the Palais-Royal. Bailly recognized his talent and ambition. Carême gained fame in Paris for his pièces montées (elaborate constructions used as centerpieces), which Bailly displayed in the pâtisserie window. He made these confections, which were sometimes several feet high, entirely out of foodstuffs such as sugar, marzipan, and pastry. He modeled them on temples, pyramids, and ancient ruins, taking ideas from architectural history books that he studied at the nearby Bibliothéque Nationale. Utilizing his architectural knowledge coupled with culinary genius, some of his sugar works were so elaborate that court jesters would dance upon them while entertaining the king. He did freelance work creating pieces principally for the French diplomat and gourmand Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, but also other members of Parisian high society, including Napoleon. While working on his confections at many private kitchens, he quickly extended his culinary skills to main courses. Napoleon was famously indifferent to food, but he understood the importance of social relations in the world of diplomacy. In 1804, he gave money to Talleyrand to purchase Château de Valençay, a large estate outside of Paris. The château was intended to act as a kind of diplomatic gathering place. When Talleyrand moved there, he took Carême with him. Carême was set a test by Talleyrand: to create a whole year’s worth of menus, without repetition, and using only seasonal produce. Carême passed the test and completed his training in Talleyrand's kitchens. After the fall of Napoléon, Carême went to London for a time and served as chef de cuisine to the Prince Regent, later George IV. Returning to the continent he served Tsar Alexander I in St. Petersburg, before returning to Paris, where he was chef to banker James Mayer Rothschild. He died in Germany at the age of 48, burnt out, and also due in no small measure, to many years inhaling the toxic fumes of the charcoal on which he cooked. He is remembered as the founder of the haute cuisine concept and is interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11000

Soyer . Alexis Benoit - Very interesting & very scarce.
Memoirs of Soyer (by his late secretaries)
MEMOIRS OF ALEXIS SOYER; WITH Unpublished Receipts AND ODDS AND ENDS OF GASTRONOMY. COMPILED AND EDITED BY F. VOLANT & J.R. WARREN, HIS LATE SECTRETARIES. LONDON: W. KENT & CO., 51&52, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLIX.
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION. Front paste-down and endpaper with advertisements. [1] Half-title. [1] Title page. [1] 1pp. Preface. [1] 2pp. Introduction. 8pp. Contents. 1-286. 287-303 Addenda. [2] Back end-paper and paste-down with advertisements. Original boards and spine in lovely blue with nice illustrations and an illustrated portrait of Soyer on the front cover. Slightly rubbed but still very handsome. Internally as new with very light foxing on the half-title. A rare book especially in this fine original condition.
- Alexis Benoît Soyer (4 February 1810 – 5 August 1858) was a French chef who became the most famous cook in Victorian London. He also tried to alleviate the suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), and improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War. Soyer was born at Meaux-en-Brie on the Marne in France. His father had several jobs, one of them as a grocer. In 1821 Soyer was expelled from school and went to live with his elder brother Phillipe in Paris. He became an apprentice at G. Rignon restaurant in Paris. Later, in 1826 he moved to restaurant 'Boulevard des Italiens', where he became chief cook of the kitchens. By June 1830, Soyer was a second cook to Prince Polignac at the French Foreign Office. During the July revolution of 1830, Soyer fled to England and the next year joined the London household of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, where his brother Philippe already worked. Later, he worked for various other British notables, including the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquess of Waterford, William Lloyd of Aston Hall and the Marquess of Ailsa at Isleworth. In 1837, Soyer became chef de cuisine at the Reform Club in London. He designed (what was to become) the famous kitchens with Charles Barry at the newly built Club. He instituted many innovations, including cooking with gas, refrigerators cooled by cold water, and ovens with adjustable temperatures. His kitchens were so famous that they were opened for conducted tours. When Queen Victoria was crowned on 28 June 1838, he prepared a breakfast for 2,000 people in the Club. His salary was more than £1,000 a year. His Lamb Cutlets Reform are still on the menu of the eponymous club. His wife, Elizabeth Emma Jones born in London - 1813, achieved considerable popularity as a painter, chiefly of portraits. She died in 1842 following complications suffered in a premature childbirth brought on by a thunderstorm. Distraught, Soyer erected a monument to her at Kensal Green Cemetery. Soyer died on 5 August 1858. At the time he was designing a mobile cooking carriage for the Army. He was buried on 11 August in Kensal Green Cemetery. This little volume of his memoirs is a very loving testament by his very faithful secretaries. It is also an interesting read. A must for collectors or students of Soyer. As of August 2008, Soyer and his wife's impressive but weather-beaten monument has been granted public money for a complete renovation, to be started by the October of that same year. The plot holds four bodies. The first Emma Soyer (1842) the wife of Alexis, Alexis Soyer(1858) himself, then Francois Simonau (1859) the artist, stepfather to Emma Soyer. Then finally a Lady Watts (1929) who was Francois Simonau's grand niece.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11001

Soyer. Alexis Benoit
Soyer's Shilling Cookery for the People.
A SHILLING COOKERY FOR THE PEOPLE EMBRACING AN ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEM OF PLAIN COOKERY AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY. BY ALEXIS SOYER AUTHOR OF "THE MODERN HOUSEWIFE" ETC. ETC. Seventieth Thousand. LONDON: GEO, ROUTELDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. NEW YORK: 18, BEEKMAN STREET. 1855. The author of this work reserves the right of translating it.
Front paste-down and endpaper, recto and verso, with advertisements. [1] Frontispiece of Soyer with signature. Title page. [1] 1pp. Dedication to The Earl of Shaftsbury. [1] vii-viii. Preface. ix-x. Contents. 1-5 Introductory Letters. [1] 7-177. 178-182 Appendix. 1pp. Soyer's Kitchen for the Army. 184-190 Index. 1-6 Advertisements. 2pp Omission. 1-16. Advertisements. Back endpapers, recto and verso, and paste-down with advertisements. Covers and spine with original illustrations in very good condition. Very slightly rubbed. Internally very clean, almost as new. Back guttering slightly cracked but holding. A nice item especially in this original condition.
- During the first half of the nineteenth century, Alexis Soyer (1809-1858), a Frenchman, was the most famous cook and one of the most famous men in London. A combination of self-promotion, talent and energetic social conscience took him into many of the great events of his times. Through each phase of his meteoric career we can see a different aspect of nineteenth-century life, including the destruction of the English peasantry, the growth of London's private clubs, the Irish famine, the Great Exhibition and Britain's disastrous involvement in the Crimea. Soyer rose from obscure origins to early fame in his 20s, as private chef to England's nobility and then as chef de cuisine at London's new Reform Club. A combination of chef, inventor and cookbook author, Soyer designed a kitchen at the club so innovative that it became a tourist attraction, filled with his clever inventions: the first to use gas for stove-top cookery (preventing the carbon monoxide poisoning by charcoal cooking that had killed previous chefs such as Carême), to the drainer and the multi-egg poacher. He went on to open London's first real restaurant in conjunction with the Great Exhibition in 1851. A dashing figure (wearing clothes in flamboyant colours, cut on the bias, or in his parlance - 'ala zoug-zoug'), who never remarried after the tragic death of his first wife and child during childbirth, Soyer was linked to some of the most famous and beautiful actresses and dancers of the day. For all his flamboyance, Soyer was practical and big-hearted, writing cookbooks for the poor and designing his famous 'Magic Stove' (see image 5 below) and progressing the idea further by designing a very large stove for a model soup-kitchen which which he used in Ireland during the potato famine. In 1855 he went to the Crimea to take over the running of the kitchens in Florence Nightingale's hospital at Scutari, having first designed a new army cook-stove, a design that remained in use up until the first Gulf war. When he died in 1858, he was helping Florence Nightingale reform British army catering. Soyer's ‘Shilling Cookery for the People’ and his other famous cookery books, are a testament to this remarkable man who was determined to revolutionize the culinary world and who remains one of the greatest cooks of the nineteenth century. A Shilling Cookery for the People was first printed in 1855. Soyer, who agreed not to attach his name to any other cookery book at a similar or lower price, received £50 for the first edition of 10,000 copies. Within four months sales had reached 110,000, and by 1867 more than a quarter of a million copies had been sold. This edition states “seventieth thousand” on the title page which places it in the third month of the first printing of 1855.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11002

David. Elizabeth - A signed copy and with a postcard addresed to E.D.
An Omelette and a Glass of Wine
ELIZABETH DAVID. An Omelette and a Glass of Wine JN A Jill Norman book ROBERT HALE. LONDON
FIRST EDITION. 1984. Front paste-down and end paper with illustrations. [1] Half-title with signature of Author. Frontispiece of E.D. in her Kitchen. Title page. [1] 1pp. Dedication. [1] 7-8 Contents. 9-18 Introduction. 19-309. 310-318 Index. [3] back end paper and paste-down with illustrations. As new, black original cloth boards and spine with gilt lettering. As new D/W. Internally as new. Many in-text illustrations. Immaculate condition. The in-text drawings by Marie Alix. On the front cover of the D/W is a copy of the famous painting of coloured eggs in an earthenware dish by Clark Morris - 1944. Also enclosed is a postcard of Beirut, posted in Menton to Mrs Elizabeth David - 1958. Signed 'love Lett' who was Clark Morris's partner informing her that he is arriving at London airport on the 16th. Further on he invites her to come to B.E. to sit and eat Koubbi, Tabbouli, Labne and Moutabel with Arat. In excellent condition.
- Elizabeth David passed away in 1992; leaving behind an array of masterfully written articles and essays written for The Spectator, Gourmet magazine, Vogue and The (London) Times etc. The majority of them were penned during the 1940's and 50's.. An Omelet and A Glass of Wine is a collection of those essays she collated and incorporated into this book. When reading it, one gets a real sense of her prolific output and her marvelous style as a writer, that garnered over the years, so may devotees. There was only 2000 copies published of this the first edition. As it is also signed and with the interesting piece of ephemera, it becomes altogether a rare E.D. item.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11003

David. Elizabeth - A signed copy
French Provincial Cooking
ELIZABETH DAVID French Provincial Cooking ILLUSTRATED BY JULIAN RENNY LONDON: MICHAEL JOSEPH
FIRST EDITION. 1960. D/W in very good condition. Green cloth boards with red illustration on front cover. Spine with a red label and gilt lettering. 1fep. Half-title with signature of the author dated November 25th 1960. [1] Title page. [1] 1p Dedication 'To P.H. with Love' 1pp Acknowledgements. 2pp Contents. 9-14 Introduction. 15-459. 460-461 Cookery books. 462-473 Bibliograpghy. 474-493 Index. [1] 1fep. Text very clean. Overall in excellent condition. Extremely scarce book especially signed by E.D.
- The dedication to 'P.H. with Love' is the initials of a lover of that period, whom Lisa Chaney in her book about E.D. informs us, was the person that E.D. loved the most, but eventually left her to marry another. The identity of this person, although known to her friends, is not revealed.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11004

Burton. George F.
Chocolates & Bon-bons
THE "NEW AREA" CHOCOLATE BOOK Home Made Chocolates Bon-Bons : Desserts Fine Art Sugar Work Sugar confectionery in General including Up-to-date Con-tinental Novelties & Finest Specialities &c. &c. COPYRIGHT BY GEORGE F. BURTON Gold Medallist, Author of "Cake-Making," etc.
FIRST EDITION. Circa 1924. 4to. 2feps. [1] Frontispiece of b&w photograph of George F. Burton. Title page. [1] 1pp Contents. 1pp Preface. 5-149. [1] 5pp Index. 1pp Illustrations. 2pp Advertisements. 1fep. Dated on the Preface; Blackpool 1924. Tan cloth covers and spine with black blind stamped writing. With an embossed round medallion of a chocolate on gilt on the front cover.A small 1" tear at the top of the spine. Some very light water-stains on the back cover. Full page illustrations in monochrome and many more in wonderful vivid colours. Some in-text illustrations as well. Overall a very handsome copy of a rare book.
- This book of confectionery is a fabulous piece of self-promotion by Burton. He proclaims himself on the Title page and Preface as a -- Gold Medallist and author of world famed book "Cake Making, Icing and Breads" Whatever Burton's self-belief, this is a very nice professional Chocolatier's and Confectioner's book of the time, made all the more attractive by the twelve beautiful lithograph plates.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11005

David. Elizabeth - A unique copy; signed twice
English Bread and Yeast Book
Elizabeth David English Bread and Yeast Cookery With illustrations by Wendy Jones - Allen Lane (with illustrated drawings of bread loaves)
FIRST EDITION. 1977. 8vo. Front and back paste-down and endpapers with illustrated drawings. [1] 1fep with Elizabeth David's signature to 'Paula Ferieter A small thank you December 1st 1977' [1] Title page. Signed again by the author. [1] 1pp To Jill Norman Affectionately. [1] vii-x Contents. xi-xiv Acknowledgements. xv-xvi List of Plates. xvii-xxii Introduction. 1pp History and Background. [1] 3-547. [1] 8pp Bibliography. 557-591 Index. 10feps. Very good D/W. Dark Grey cloth boards and spine with gilt writing. Condition, as new. A very desirable copy, especially with the double E.D. signature.
- The end-paper drawings are by Lady Llanover from her 'Good Cookery' 1867. There are many wonderful illustrated drawings in text. In 1973 E.D. severed all connections with the business trading under her name. She then spent her time concentrating on study and experiments for this book. In 1976 she was awarded the OBE. Elizabeth revealed to Jill Norman in a TV documentary about her some years ago, that had she known the work entailed in this book she may never have started it in the first place. It is an impressively comprehensive study of bread and yeast from the time of first records.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11006

Escoffier. Georges Auguste - An association copy; signed by Elizabeth David
Ma Cuisine
A. ESCOFFIER MA CUISINE 2,500 RECETTES FLAMMARION EDITEUR 26, RUE RACINE, PARIS
FIRST FRENCH EDITION. 1934. Original D/W with small chips at the top and bottom of the spine and folds at cover edges. Otherwise very bright. Fresh green cloth boards and spine with yellow writing. Slightly rubbed on the edges. The front paste-down has a signed dedication by E.D.: "For Colin with my love Liz May 23rd 1960" 1fep. Half-title. 1pp Du meme Auteur. Title page. [1] 5-8 Introduction. 9-673. 3pp Menus Types. 677-703 Table des Metieres. [1] 1fep. Unusually bright copy as the paper is usually quite browned.
- First French editions of Ma Cusine are quite scarce, but this one is rare, coming from E.D's library and with her signature. A real collectors item.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11007

Escoffier. Georges Auguste
Ma Cuisine
Ma Cuisine AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER Translated from the French by VYVYAN HOLLAND Edited by MARION HOWELLS Foreward by ANDRE L. SIMON. PAUL HAMLYN. LONDON
Good D/W slightly chipped along the edges. Dark purple cloth cover and spine with blind tooling, gilt lettering and gilt outline of a cooking pot. 1fep. Half Title. [1] Title page. [1] 1pp Contents. [1] 7-9 Forward by A.L. Simon. 10-11 Preface. 12-13 Introduction by Escoffier. 14-15 Weights & Measures [1] 17-818. 819-884 Index. 1fep. A very good copy.
- Escoffier was eighty years old when the first French edition of Ma Cuisine was published in 1934. He died the following year. The first English edition was published - 1965. This copy is the first English edition - second impression - 1966. A very impressive book aimed at the housewife. Containing over 2000 recipes, it is a monumental and important work. The Forward by Andre L. Simon is interesting for its very personal and endearing description of Escoffier and his qualities. An important addition to any collection of cookery books.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11008