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Soyer. Elizabeth Emma [nee Jones] - Drawn by the artist when she was fifteen
An Original Drawing.
Exquisite black crayon period portrait of older man seated. Wearing a jacket with wide lapels, a waistcoat and a white neck-scarf. Identity of the sitter unknown. Signed by Emma Jones and dated 1828.
Actual Drawings - 7.5"x 9" = 190 x 228mm. Frame - 11.5 "x13" = 292 x 330mm. Sympathetically mounted on a dark green/grey cardboard backing with glass fronted, gold brushed frame. The edges of the paper slightly cracked but altogether nicely aged. Overall a very rare and handsome item.
- Elizabeth Emma Jones was born in London - 1813. In 1836 she married Alexis Benoist Soyer the famous Chef de Cuisine of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London. She died on the 29th of August, 1842, aged twenty-nine. Miss Emma Jones acquired the rudiments of her vocation under the guidance of Mons. Simonau, a Flemish artist, who subsequently became her step-father. She showed talent from a very young age and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1823, at barely ten years old. This highly accomplished artist focused on portraiture and studies of nature. Her works were popularised through engravings and she went on to exhibit at the Paris Salon from 1840-42. Her reputation in France stood higher than even her native country. She was regarded as unusual and precociously gifted. Her works were admired because they were said to have been marked by great vigour and breadth of light and shadow. This can be seen in the portrait on offer here. Astonishingly, it was completed when she was just fifteen years old and shows a great degree of artistic maturity. The famous portrait of her husband Alexis Soyer wearing his beret, (see below) is a stipple engraving by Henry Bryan Hall originally from a drawing by Emma. It is housed in the National Portrait Gallery. Notwithstanding Madame Soyer's death at such a young age she was a prolific artist who left behind upwards of 400 paintings, which received commendations of the highest character. Soyer's already bright reputation was considerably enhanced by his marriage to Emma. While he was in a meeting in Belguim with the king, Emma became very frightened during a severe thunderstorm and she had a miscarriage and died. Soyer was distraught and never forgave himself for his absence, not even when, in 1850, receiving a letter from Alexis Lemain claiming to be his son - the result of an early liaison in Paris - he accepted paternity. Emma and Soyer are both buried together at Kensal Green cemetery. As of August 2008, Emma and Soyer'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. Besides Alexis and Emma there is Francois Simonau (1859) the artist, mentor and stepfather to Emma mentioned above. Then finally a Lady Watts (1929) who was Francois Simonau's grand niece. Emma (Soyer) Jones's paintings and drawings are very rare and seldom appear at auction or on the market.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11091

Soyer. Elizabeth Emma [nee Jones] - Drawn by the artist when she was fifteen
An Original Drawing.
Exquisite black crayon period portrait of an old man seated. Wearing a peaked cap, high necked waistcoat, small knotted neckerchief and a jacket with wide lapels. Identity of the sitter unknown. Signed by Emma Jones and dated 1828.
Actual Drawings - 7.5"x 9" = 190 x 228mm. Frame - 11.5 "x13" = 292 x 330mm. Sympathetically mounted on a dark green/grey cardboard backing with glass fronted, gold brushed frame. The edges of the paper slightly cracked but altogether nicely aged. Overall a very rare and handsome item.
- Elizabeth Emma Jones was born in London - 1813. In 1836 she married Alexis Benoist Soyer the famous Chef de Cuisine of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London. She died on the 29th of August, 1842, aged twenty-nine. She showed talent from a very young age and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1823, at barely ten years old. This highly accomplished artist focused on portraiture and studies of nature. Her works were popularised through engravings and she went on to exhibit at the Paris Salon from 1840-42. Her reputation in France stood higher than even her native country. She was regarded as unusual and precociously gifted. Her works were admired because they were said to have been marked by great vigour and breadth of light and shadow. This can be seen in the portrait on offer here. Astonishingly, it was completed when she was just fifteen years old and shows a great degree of artistic maturity. The famous portrait of her husband Alexis Soyer wearing his beret, (see below) is a stipple engraving by Henry Bryan Hall originally from a drawing by Emma. It is owned by the National Portrait Gallery. The first picture below is a self-portrait drawn by Emma.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11092

Oxford. Arnold Whitaker - with a tipped-in letter signed by Oxford
Notes from a Collector's Catalogue
With a Bibliography of English Cookery Books, By A. W. Oxford. London: Messrs. JOHN and EDWARD BUMPUS. Limited, 350, Oxford Street. 1909.
FIRST EDITION 1909. On the first blank, a tipped in one page letter written and signed by Oxford. [1] Title page. [1] 1p Contents. [1] (1)2-116. 1p with printers info. [1] 2 feps. With original very clean grey cardboard boards with black ink title on the front. A cream cloth spine lightly browned. Half the original label missing. Internally a very clean, tight binding and untrimmed. Overall a very good copy in the original state. A very scarce item especially in this condition and with the signed letter.
- Dr. Arnold Whitaker Oxford was born at Keynsham in 1854, and graduated from Oxford University. He died on May. 30 1947 at the age of 93 after enjoying a long medical career. At one time he was resident at Charing Cross Hospital. He wrote quite a few books. Some on Freemasons but the better known on cookery. Oxford was an inveterate and odd collector. He started with playing cards and their accessories, and among many other collecting fevers he amassed collections of old silver, stay busks, knitting needle sheaths, domestic implements, seals and writing materials. diaries and engravings, religious objects, Egyptian antiquities, calendars, clocks and finally the items that fired him up the most: cookery books. He wrote two cookery bibliographies that are much used by collectors. This one -- 'Notes from a Collectors Catalogue' and the more comprehensive ' English Cookery Books to the Year 1850' On page 40 of the 'Notes from a Collectors Catalogue' there is a very good list of English books on Cookery and Carving up to the year 1699. Listing not only Oxford's collection, but also the holdings of the Bodleian, the British Museum, and the Cambridge and Patent Office libraries. At the back is also an STC of Cookery Books from 1700. The handwritten letter by Oxford is in his small 'hard to read' style states (as far as I can make out) -- 'July 2.19.08 Dear Sir I hear you bought lot 68 at Sothebys on June 25. 1908. I should be most obliged if you would let me see 'The Court & Country Cook' at home if ------. I cant come up and see it myself as I have been in bed for weeks. I am writing to present you with a book of mine as you will see from it on page 97 ----- I must want the ----. Y faithfully a.w. oxford.' (then written & underlined in another hand) --'Entered 3.7.09'. The cookbook 'The Court & Country Cook' referred to above by Oxford can be seen on this site - item #11120. This is a translation into English of Massialot’s two famous books, 'Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois' and 'Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures'. As this book was printed in 1702. One wonders whether Oxford had already seen a copy and wanted to re-check some details for his Collector's Catalogue of 1909, or this was his first sight of a very rare book.

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Modern category

ref number: 11093

Pennell. Elizabeth Robins - A limited edition of 500 & a signed letter.
My Cookery Books
by Elizabeth Robins Pennell. The verso states 'This 1983 edition limited to 500 copies. this is number 54.'
174 x 248mm. Front and back paste-downs and endpapers, in bottle green paper. 1fep with a tipped in note hand-written by Pennell on the verso. Title page. 2p Forward by Mike McKirdy of ‘CooksBooks’. [1] 15p Index of Authors and Titles. [1] Facsimile of original Title page. [1] (1)vi-x Introduction. (1)xii Illustrations. Half Title. [1] My Cookery Books 2-171. [1]. Original quarter bound green cloth with marbled boards. Paper printed label on spine. The tipped in hand-written postcard by Pennell with her messy writing style reads – “I must send at least a good to say “Thank You” for I think it so good of you to remember the Oatcake sounds very good, but I am not sure if the ----- ------ will ---- to it. However, we shall see! E R Pennell 25.2.17. A scarce item in excellent condition.
- Elizabeth Robins Pennell, born February 21, 1855 was an American author. She was the wife of American artist, illustrator and fellow author, Joseph Pennell, whom she married in June 1884. He provided the illustrations for many of her books. They rebuked the staid Victorian sensibilities of their times. After an eyebrow-raising marriage in 1884, offending both his Quaker family and her Catholic family, they raised more eyebrows by tri-cycling through France, the Alps, and Italy. Elizabeth sat in the sidecar-like seat, Joseph perched on the high seat. Pennell would go on to author over twenty-five books, some of which are now in print again. She also wrote articles for The Atlantic Monthly and newspapers, including a food column—“The Wares of Autolycus”—for London’s The Pall Mall Gazette. Nothing in her background suggested that Elizabeth Pennell would become one of the world’s best-known cookbook collectors. She collected rare cookbooks for more than 27 years and wrote this intriguing bibliographical essay about them, which was first published in 1903. Her other famous Culinary work is the ‘The Feasts of Autolycus: the Diary of a Greedy Woman’ - first edition 1898. The Pennells frequented cafés in France and Italy, with their many artist friends. The European café culture, contributed enormously to her culinary education, preparing her for writing her food columns. Because she couldn’t wield a saucepan with ease when she started writing her food column, one of the Pennells’ friends, publisher William E. Henley, saved her by giving her a copy of Alexander Dumas’s Dictionnaire de la Cuisine. With the acquisition of Dumas’s book, Pennell marveled, “It was with something of a shock that I woke one morning and found myself a collector of cookery books.” And when she passed up a new dress for a rare first edition of “good old Hannah Glasse,” she knew she was a serious collector At one point, Pennell owned over 1,000 rare cookbooks. Her glee over the range of her collection comes out in this book where she writes – ‘If it be a mistake to collect, at least I have collected so well that I have yet to find the collection of cookery books that can equal mine. It may be put to shame when I consult M. Georges Vicaire’s Bibliographie Gastronomique (1890), with its twenty-five hundred entries, especially as M. Vicaire’s knowledge of the English books on the subjects is incomplete, and his ignorance of the American exhaustive, - and he has never heard of Miss Leslie, poor man’. Pennell also owned a copy, published in 1498, of De Re Culinaria, by the third century Roman gastronome who called himself Apicius. It is thought to have been the first cookbook in the Western world. The great collector is being re-found and appreciated due to the re-publishing of some of her work. She died in New York City in February of 1936. Below is a photograph portrait from the Victoria & Albert Museum of Elizabeth Robins Pennell, taken crica 1890, by Frederick Hollyer (1837-1933)

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Modern category

ref number: 11094

Robuchon Joel - Signed by Robuchon and Patricia Wells
Cuisine Actuelle
Patricia Wells PRESENTS THE CUISINE OF JOEL ROBUCHON Photographs by Steven Rothfield M MACMILLAN LONDON
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION 1993. 197x254mm. 1fep. Half Title with a planche with Robechon and Wells signatures. [1] Title Page. [1] 2p Acknowledgements. 1p Contents. Verso 1p List of Illustrations. (1)2-4 The Cuisine of Joel Robuchon. (1)6-8 An Interview with Joel Robuchon. (1)10 About Joel Robuchon. (1)12 Translating Three Star Concepts to the Home. (1) 15-316. (1)318-327 Index. [1} 1fep. With D/J in fine condition. Fully bound in black cloth with gilt tooling on cover and spine. Internally and externally as new. The signatures proclaim - 'Joel ma sympathic gourmande Robuchon' and 'To simple pleasures, memorable meals! Patricia Wells'
- This is a less sumptuous copy of the American edition of the same Robuchon book titled 'Simply French'. Renamed 'Cuisine Actuelle', and even though it is aimed at the housewife, the recipes are still daunting. With subtle alterations to suit the English palate and market, it is never the less a very good cook book. Robuchon's stature as a great chef is plain to see.

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Modern category

ref number: 11095

Savoy Hotel. London. - Signed by Silvino Trompetto & Anton Adlemann & James Pare.
Food and Drink Book
THE SAVOY FOOD AND DRINK BOOK (With a picture of a Raspberry sorbet in a biscuit tulip 'en cage') PYRAMID
FIRST EDITION 1988. 210x275mm. 1fep with a b/w photo of Escoffier in top hat at an exhibition. On the verso is a photo of a signed drawing of Francoise Latry, the Savoy Maitre Chef de Cuisines, from 1919 to 1924. Also on the page is the the signature of the Executive Chef, James Pare. Half title with a planche with Trompetto’s signature and a photograph of him in the Savoy kitchen. Frontispiece of Richard D’Oyly Carte. Title page with Adelmann’s signature. Verso with ISBN. 1p Contents. Verso with foyer photograph. 7-9 Introduction. 10-36 + (1) One hundred glorious years. Verso with photograph of chefs. (1)40-207. Verso with photograph of barman. (1)210-221 Cocktail recipes with photographs. 222-224 Index. 1fep. D/J in fine condition. With white cloth binding and gilt writing on spine. Also enclosed are seven pages of nicely produced banqueting menus and a 1916 Savoy leaving certificate of a former Sous Chef; A. Cadier. Very fine condition; as new.
- The Savoy Food and Drink Book is a fine testimony to the excellence of its cuisine. From the historical introduction by Kingsley Amis and the twenty-eight pages detailing ‘One Hundred Glorious Years’ we learn that Richard D’Oyly Carte, originally the impresario behind the Savoy Theatre, was making so much money he invested in the building of the Savoy Hotel on land next to the theatre. The hotel opened in August 1889 and D’Oyly Carte then extended his Midas touch by hiring Cesar Ritz and Auguste Escoffier. Within its first year the Savoy was recognised as the standard for all hotels to emulate. Escoffier and Ritz stayed for ten years and then moved to the newly opened Carlton Hotel in 1899. Their noble and distinguished clientele followed them there. The Savoy never lost its true mystique as a great Hotel and institution. It has been a place of meeting and prominence with members of Royalty, the British establishment, the Arts and Entertainment since its inception. With every recipe in the book accompanied by a fine coloured photograph one gets an honestly great cookbook. The enclosed ephemera, further enhances; the Private Room menus are from the time of Anton Edlemann’s tenure. The other item of ephemera is a Savoy leaving certificate (written in French!) for Adolphe Cadier who was a Sous Chef from July 1915 to August 1916. Also attached to the certificate is a photograph of Cadier and a copy of a letter from Escoffier to Cadier, ironically written by Escoffier while he was at the Carlton. The book is also unique in having the signatures of three of its maitre-chefs de cuisines; Silvino Trompetto and Anton Adlemann, and the signature of the most recent Executive Chef, James Pare, who finished his tenure there on 24th October 2014. In 1938 Hugh Wontner joined the Savoy hotel group and he became managing director in 1941. Under Wontner's leadership, the Savoy appointed its first British head chef, Silvino Trompetto, who was maître-chef de cuisine from 1965 to 1980. Anton Adlemann came to England from Munich in 1971 and started at the Savoy under Trompetto. When he became maitre-chef, Adelmann oversaw the rebuilding of brand new kitchens at a cost of £3.5 million. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited them on 5th December 1985. Escoffier’s old ovens which had been in continuous use from 1895 to1985, were finally mothballed. The Savoy has a world-wide reputation and a great history. I have tried every recipe in the book when I was in charge of my own kitchens. Every one worked, and produced very good results. Unlike many other cookery books that have recipes incorporated after maybe one trial at most, the Savoy recipes have been tried and tested over many years. This in-house sumptuously produced signed book with added ephemera is a real collector’s item.

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Modern category

ref number: 11096

Thrupp. Sylvia - A fine historical study.
A Short History of the Worshipful Company of Bakers of London
Half Title with the Worshipful Company of Baker's Crest.
FIRST EDITION 1933. 153x232mm. 2feps. Half title of Baker’s crest. [1] Title page. [1] v-vii Forward. [1] ix Author’s Preface. [1] xi Contents. [1] xiii Illustrations. [1] 1-170. 1p Photograph. [1] 171-172 Supplementary Notes. Photograph. [1] 173-176 List of Company Records. 177-182 List of Company Masters. p183 List of Company Clerks. 184-187 List of Benefactors. 188-189 List of the Company Livery. 190-201 Chapter Notes. 202-207 Index. 9p Decorative Scenes. 1fep. Twenty three pages of photographs and decorative scenes all with tissue guards. Red quarter calf binding with green cloth boards with bright gilt tooling on front board and spine (photo 1 below). Excellent condition externally and internally.
- During the year 1931-2, Frederick Abraham Mostyn became the Master of the Guild or Mistery of Bakers. He undertook the restoring and re-decorating of the ancient Company Hall after fifty years of neglect. As the Baker’s Company is one of the oldest and most venerable of the London livery companies, Mostyn also decided to put on record for the first time the history of the Company from its foundation. The earliest reference to the bakers is at the beginning of the reign of Henry II. The baker’s charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in1569. (photo 2 below) Mostyn approached Miss Sylvia Thrupp, M.A., Ph.D., of the London School of Economics. She had, circa. 1930 published an essay on ‘The Grocers of London’, a study that dealt with English Trade in the fifteenth century. She agreed to Mostyn’s request, although much of the history of ‘The Company of Bakers’ lay hidden in documents couched in mediaeval Latin and French scripts. Failing precise and trustworthy accounts of the origins of mediaeval craftsmen’s gilds, two of the main theories is, one, compounding for tolls and taxes, and two, the right vested in gild officers to supervise and govern the trade to which they were connected. From this historical basis Sylvia Thrupp starts, and takes the reader through a very interesting tour of the growth of the Company of Bakers up to 1933, the date of Mostyn’s forward at the beginning of the book. The list of company Masters on page 177 begins with John Jenyns who was in office from 1481-1489. This is not only the story of the bakers, but Thrupp has skilfully weaved in other significant livery companies of London. This allows us to see the Baker’s Company in the proper historical context of other venerable crafts. A wonderful book; Moyston chose his historical author well.

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Modern category

ref number: 11097

Toklas Alice B. - With a rare signed presentation inscription from the Author.
Cook Book
ILLUSTRATIONS BY SIR FRANCIS ROSE. (Printers device of a mermaid) London. MICHAEL JOSEPH
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 1954. 8vo. 235 x 157 mm. Illustrated cartographic front paste-down and end-paper. [1] Half title. On verso is a tipped-in book-review card from the publisher Messers. Michael Joseph Ltd. 1 blank with signed presentation inscription from the author in her typical shaky script - "For Jacques Ehrmann - The perhaps youngest of the admirers of Gertrude Stein to cross my path? With all good wishes, Alice Toklas". Frontispiece drawing of Toklas. Title page. Printers info. page. 1p Contents. [1] ix-xi A Word with Cook. [1] (2)3-280. (2)283-288 Index of Recipes. 2fep. [1] Illustrated cartographic back end-paper and paste-down. Cream coloured cloth boards. Spine with gilt and green cloth label. Distinctive D/J with large coloured drawing of Toklas, the back with fruit filled vine. The spine with 7mm chip to the top spreading to a 1/4 of the back, and 5mm bottom of spine chip. Very lightly age-browned & very slightly chipped at edges, but looks fresh. Text block very clean. Illustrated throughout by Francis Rose. Internally very good.
- - The person who received this inscribed copy from Toklas was Jacques Ehrmann (1931 - 1972). A French theorist and faculty member at Yale. He would have been 24 in 1955. What is unusual also is the publisher's book-review card tipped into the verso of the title page and opposite the signed presentation to Jacques Ehrmann. It states that the book was sold for 21 shillings (old UK money) and published on the 15th November 1954. One wonders whether this was a book given initially to Toklas from Michael Joseph and she signed it and gave it to Mr Ehrmann, or was it sent to Ehrmann by the publisher who in turn did an official review and then got it signed by Toklas. A mystery! Alice Babette Toklas was born in San Francisco, California into a middle-class Jewish family and attended schools in both San Francisco and Seattle. For a short time she also studied music at the University of Washington. She went to Paris and met Gertrude Stein an American writer, on September 8, 1907 on the first day that she arrived. Together they hosted a famous salon at 27 rue de Fleurus that attracted expatriate American writers, such as Ernest Hemingway, Paul Bowles, Thornton Wilder and Sherwood Anderson, and avant-garde painters, including Picasso, Matisse and Braque. Acting as Stein's confidante, lover, cook, secretary, muse, editor, critic, and general organizer, Toklas remained a background figure, chiefly living in the shadow of Stein, until Stein published her memoirs in 1933 under the teasing title The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. It became Stein's bestselling book. The two were a couple until Gertrude Stein's death in 1946. Toklas then published her own literary memoir, this 1954 book that mixed reminiscences and recipes. The most famous recipe therein (actually contributed by her friend Brion Gysin) is called "Haschich Fudge", a mixture of fruit, nuts, spices, and ‘canibus [sic] sativa’, or marijuana. Her name was later lent to the range of cannabis concoctions called Alice B. Toklas brownies. Some believe that the slang term "take a toke", meaning to inhale marijuana, is derived from her last name. The cookbook has not been out of print since it was first published, and has been translated into numerous languages, most recently into Norwegian in 2007. A second cookbook followed in 1958 called 'Aromas and Flavors of Past and Present' [see item # 11335 below]. She also wrote articles for several magazines and newspapers including The New Republic and the New York Times, In 1963 she published her autobiography, 'What Is Remembered', which abruptly ends with Stein's death, leaving little doubt that Stein was the love of her lifetime. Her later years were very difficult because of poor health and financial problems, aggravated by the fact that Stein's heirs took the priceless paintings (some of them by Picasso) which had been left to her by Stein. Toklas also became a Roman Catholic convert in her old age as she had been told by a priest that in that way she may possibly meet Stein again in the afterlife. She died in poverty at the age of 89, and is buried next to Stein in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France; Toklas' name is engraved on the back of Stein's headstone. This very scarce famous cookery book is made very rare with Toklas's signed inscription.

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Modern category

ref number: 11098

Kitchiner. Dr William - With a hand written letter signed by Kitchiner.
THE ART OF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING LIFE,
BY FOOD, CLOTHES, AIR, EXERCISE, WINE SLEEP, &C. AND PEPTIC PRECEPTS, POINTING OUT AGREEABLE AND EFFECTUAL METHODS TO PREVENT AND RELIEVE INDIGESTION, AND TO REGULATE AND STRENGTHEN THE ACTION OF THE BOWELS. Suaviter in mode, fortitier in re. TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE PLEASURE OF MAKING A WILL. Finis coronat opus. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE COOK'S ORACLE," &C.&C.&C. THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED. LONDON PRINTED FOR HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO. AND CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH. 1822.
106 x 174mm. 2feps modern, with a tipped in hand written letter signed by Kitchiner. Half title. Verso with printer's info. Title page. [1] 1p Dedication. {1] (1)viii Preface. 1p Contents. Verso advertisement for 'The Cook's Oracle'. (1)2-288. (1)290-298. 2p Advertisements. 2fep modern. Nice modern bottle green half calf with cloth boards and calf tips. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and gilt writing in two compartments. The top of the text block has been clipped with no loss except for the chart on p144 which has half the first line clipped. The title page slightly age browned but overall a nice copy.
- William Kitchiner M.D. (1775–1827) One of the great Regency eccentrics, was an optician, inventor of telescopes, amateur musician and exceptional cook. His name was a household word during the 19th century. His best known cookbook is ‘Apicius Redivivus, or the Cook's Oracle’. It includes 11 ketchup recipes, including two each for mushroom, walnut and tomato, and one each for cucumber, oyster, cockle and mussel ketchups. Unlike most food writers of the time he cooked the food himself washed up afterward, even performing all the household tasks he wrote about. He traveled around with his portable cabinet of taste; a folding cabinet, containing spices, mustards and sauces. He was also the creator of the Wow-Wow sauce. But Kitchiner was not a mere book publishing cook: he practised what he taught, and he had ample means for the purpose. From his father, a coal-merchant with an extensive business in the Strand, he had inherited a fortune of £60,000 or £70,000 (converted to 2017 rates, amounting to £5,502,155.56) which was more than sufficient to enable him to work out his ideal of life. His heart overflowed with benevolence and good humour, and no man better understood the art of making his friends happy. He showed equal tact in his books: his 'Cook's Oracle' is full of practical common-sense; and lest his reader should stray into excess, he wrote this book ‘The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life’. With his ample fortune, Kitchiner was still an economist, and wrote a ‘Housekeeper's Ledger’, a 'Traveller's Oracle', and a coaxing volume entitled ‘The Pleasures of Making a Will’. He also wrote on astronomy, telescopes, and spectacles. In music he was proficient. In 1820, at the coronation of George IV, he published a collection of the National Songs of Great Britain, a folio volume, with a splendid dedication plate to His Majesty. Next he edited The Sea Songs of Charles Dibdin. At this time he resided at No. 43, Warren-street, Fitzroy-square. Though always an epicure, and fond of experiments in cookery, exceedingly particular in the choice of his viands and their mode of preparation for the table, Kitchiner was regular even abstemious in his general habits. His dinners were cooked according to his own method; He dined at five, supper was served at half-past nine and at eleven he retired. Every Tuesday evening he gave a conversazione, at which he delighted in bringing together professors and amateurs of the sciences and polite arts. On the 26th of February 1827, he was a guest at a large dinner-party given by Mr. Braham, the celebrated singer. He had been in high spirits, and had enjoyed the company to a later hour than his usually early habits allowed. Mathews was present, and rehearsed a portion of a new comic entertainment, which induced Kitchiner to amuse the party with some of his whimsical reasons for inventing odd things, and giving them odd names. He returned home, was suddenly taken ill, and in an hour he was no more! The handwritten letter was penned one year before his death in 1827 aged fifty two. Kitchiner is asking his correspondent to call upon Sir A. Carlisle "to hear his plan for a 'Book of Health'. Signed 'Wm Kitchiner Dec 23rd. 26. 43. Warren St. The relevant tipped-in note from Kitchiner gives this item an interesting rarity.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11099

Kitchiner. Dr William - The least known of Kitchiner's books.
THE SHILLING KITCHINER
OR ORACLE OF COOKERY FOR THE MILLION WITH DR. KITCHINER'S CELEBRATED ADVICE TO COOKS AND OTHER SERVANTS BY THE EDITORS OF "THE DICTIONARY OF DAILY WANTS" LONDON HOULSTON AND WRIGHT 65, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXI
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION 1861. 110 X 174mm. 1fep modern. Frontispiece missing. Title page with chipped edges wrapped in tissue guard; no text loss. Verso with printer's info. (1)2-188. (1)190-196 Index; all pages with chipped edges wrapped in tissue guard; no text loss. 1p Advertisements with chipped edges wrapped in tissue guard; no text loss. 2feps modern. All pages slightly browned throughout. pages 131-196 with a small brown stain on bottom outer corners. Modern half tan morocco with marbled boards and morocco tips. Spine with raised bands and gilt tooling in the compartments. Red label with gilt lines and writing.
- Kitchiner's who passed away in 1827 could not have written this book that eventually got published in 1861. The well known maitre chef de cuisine of the Reform Club - Alexis Soyer, had his famous little book 'A Shilling Cookery for the People' published first in 1855. This book of Kitchener's is his least known but well within character, as he was famous for not only his generosity but also his frugality. It appears to be a possible compilation of Kitchener's papers by the editors. There are no entries in Cagle, Bitting, Attar, Lehman, Hazlitt nor Pennell. Although Quayle devotes twelve pages to Kitchiner, his books and recipes, there is no mention of this title. A fine detailed recipe book with advice and household hints for the less well off. Unlike Soyer's 'Shilling Cookery for the People" which had numerous print runs and can still be found quite regularly in various auctions this Kitchener title does not. Due to the scarcity of copies appearing on the market, it must be considered very scarce to rare.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11100