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TAVERNER PHILLIPS. F. - A private printing for the Company of Cooks. Very rare.
A History of the Worshipful Company of Cooks, London.
Compiled by F. TAVERNER PHILLIPS, Citizen and Cook of London. Juxia medicinam esse coquorum officium simulantium et adulationem quartae particulae civilitatis. Quintilian’s translation of a quotation from Plato’s Gorgias. LONDON 1932 (the 450th anniversary of the Incorporation of the Cook’s company).
FIRST EDITION. 12mo. Inside front cover and fep with marbled paper. 1fep with inscription to C.Harold Ridge from the Compiler October 1946. Half title, Verso with notation of the book being a private printing for the Worshipful Company of Cooks. [1] Frontispiece of the Cooks’ Company Arms. Title page. [1] (1)viii Contents. 1p List of Illustrations. [1] (1) xii-xiii Preface. (1)xv Authors Forward. [1] (1)xviii-xi Introduction. [1] (1)2-191. [1] (1)104-207 Index. [1] 1fep. Inside back cover and fep with marbled paper. Original full red cloth binding with gilt text on spine and gilt armorial and text on front cover. Text block has original untrimmed pages. Considering its age, its in wonderful original condition.
- The Cook’s Guild of London is the oldest. This book was compiled and written by Taverner Phillips, who was also a cook. It was a private printing which probably means it was a very small number published. Including the frontispiece there are 13 Illustrations showing everything to do with the Cooks’ Company, its cups, badges and silverware, to a complete list past Masters and Wardens, and a very comprehensive history dating from its first mention in Deed Pole – May 21st 1500. The Roll of the Cooks’ Company however goes back to 1309-1312 when mention of Cooks’ redemptions have been extracted from the Letter Book D at the Guildhall, London. After the incorporation of the Cooks’ Company the earliest extant list to be found, is in a manuscript volume in the Public Record Office (Chapter House Books, Vol.93) under the heading of ‘Pastelers’. The title page of the volume is inscribed ‘The Companyes of all the Craftes or Mysteries of London’. Although undated, it was compiled in 1538. This is a fantasstic book. Also considering it was compiled and written by a cook it is all the more fascinating. It should be a part of the curriculum of all Catering colleges. An enlarged later edition was compiled and published in 1982. See item - ref:# 11112, on this site.

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Modern category

ref number: 11222

Lambrecht. Bernhard - A wonderful record of German confectionary.
THE NEW STYLE OF CONFECTIONARY.
BY BERNHARD LAMBRECHT MASTER CONFECTIOER TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN Published by MACLAREN & SONS, LTD. 38, Shoe Lane, London, and Glasgow.
FIRST EDITION. c. 1930. 265 x 230 mm. 4to. 2feps with a small printers device on the 2rd one. Title page with the same printers device on the verso. p5 Contents. 6-132. 1fep. Original cream coloured cloth full binding with pressed brown text on front board and spine. The binding with some staining indicative of a slight kitchen spillage. Text block ‘as new’. Numerous large beautiful black and white plates and 9 full pages with colour plates tipped in, some with tissue guards. Very good plus.
- Bernhard Lambrecht, the son of a pastry chef, attended from 1907 to 1916 at the Great School in Wolfenbüttel. After graduation he was a soldier in the First World War. He then graduated as a pastry chef after an apprenticeship in the Wolfenbüttel Confectionery run by his father. In 1926, in Leipzig he sat for his Master's examination for the Confectionery trade. In 1927 he founded in Wolfenbüttel a private school for the ‘new pastry art’. He headed the school as a director until 1969. The other great confectioner's institution, the Master School of Confectioners, existed from 1938 until 1948. It was then taken over by the German Federal Confectioners guild, and later re-named the ‘Federal College for the Confectionery Trade’. The Federal College was up until the 1990s, the only training institution for inter-company confectioner training in Germany. Many trainees also came from abroad. From Japan, the USA and Canada, Brazil, Holland, Sweden and Norway. In 2004 the school was closed. Lambrecht, pursued the goal of lifting his profession to the highest level of the style of the Weimar Bauhaus. The Bauhaus was founded as an art school in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar. The nature and conception was something completely new. It represented a merging of art and craft. It is today the most influential educational institution in the field of architecture, art and design. Its continues today as a major force in shaping the image of German designs abroad. In Germany, Bernhard Lambrecht is characterized as an internationally important pioneer and innovator of his profession. To this day Lambrecht’s influence on the modern café culture is immense. This 1930 Confectionary book he published testifies to his precise, beautiful craftsmanship. On page 7, Lambrecht declares that Confectionary is Art (with a capital A). This is a sentiment shared by many modern chefs who are also under the illusion that they are artists, and what they create is art. We can accept this is not true, if we read about Socrates' printed conversation with a learned pundit, where he clarifies after a long dialogue that “art must and does, with the use of mundane materials, elevate the conscious above the everyday existance”. Great cooking cannot do this, but it does cause wonder and awe at the craftsmanship displayed, but the final truth is, it ends up as just satisfying hunger. In conclusion, the most that can be said to describe great cooks, is that they are great artisans. Bernhard Lambrecht was one such artisan. This printed work conveys his craftsmanship beautifully. He must be accepted as one of the most important contributors to the famous German confectionary trade. This is a very handsome and well laid out book with many beautiful plates.

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Modern category

ref number: 11223

Anon. - The great Diet & Health treatise in verse.
Regimen Sanitatis Salerni:
OR THE SCHOOLE OF SALERNES REGEMENT of HEALTH. Containing, Most Learned and judicious Directions and Instructi-ons, for Preservation, Guide, and Government of MANS LIFE. Dedicated, Unto the late High and Mighty King of England, from that University, and published (by consent of learned Physicians) for a generall good. Reviewed, corrected, and enlarged with a Commentary for the more plain and easie understanding thereof. [two lines] By P.H. Dr, in Physicke, deceased. [one line] Whereunto is annexed, A necessary Discourse of all sorts of Fish, in use among us, with their effects appertaining to the Health of Man. As Also, Now, and never before, is added certain precious and approved Ex-periments for Health, by a Right Honourable, and Noble Personage. [one line] London, printed by B. Alsop, dwelling in Grub-Street near the Upper-Pump, 1649.
183 x 142 mm. 1fep. Title page surrounded by a thick floral border. [1] 2p Epistle Dedicatory. (x)2-206 with occasional marginalia in a fine script. 10p The Table. 207-220 Excellent and approved Receipts, 3p The Table of additional Receipts. [1] 1 fep. The whole text block uniformly browned through out. Pages 14-46 with excellent repairs not affecting the text. Original full dark brown calf with blind tooled lines on the spine and a small dark red calf label with gilt lettering. Inside and out this copy looks its age but not objectionable. A desirable copy in the original state.
- The Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum (from Latin: Salerno Rule of Health) is a medieval didactic poem in hexameter verse written as part of the Medical School of Salerno in the XII - XIII century. Although it is commonly dated around that time, some sources argue that it dates back to 1050. The work, probably dedicated to Robert II Duke of Normandy and pretender to the English throne who was in Salerno in 1099 returning from the First Crusade. The text shows signs of the ‘School of Salerno’ for everything about hygiene, food, diet, herbs and their therapeutic properties. The author is unknown, although some attribute it to a certain Giovanni Da Milano (John of Milan), perhaps a disciple of Constantine the African; the text, however, has undergone several contributions over the centuries. It was also translated into almost all European languages, and reached nearly 40 editions before 1501, many of which were added to, or material taken away from the original version. The first English translation was made by Sir John Harington in 1608 . The first printing, containing 364 verses in Latin, was published in 1480, and annotated and edited by Arnold of Villanova; the book was enormously popular and was held in high regard as a textbook for teaching and the dissemination of medicine. It was used for that purpose until the nineteenth century, when an attempt to make a medically accurate translation was made in 1871 by the American doctor John Ordronaux. The Regimen was very popular because the rhyming verses were easy to remember. It was organized by the six ‘non-naturals’. According to Galen, they are: air, food and drink, sleeping and waking, motion and rest, excretions and retentions, and number six, dreams and the passions of the soul. The original content addressed the humors, the complexions (temperaments), and some diseases. It also contains text on phlebotomy, providing information on bloodletting. An interesting read of a far-reaching text and medieval medical classic that can also lie easily along side early cookery classics and treatises. It was not until the late 18th century that medicinal receipts, usually found at the back of most printed cookery books was fazed out.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11224

Atkyns (pseud). Arabella - the very rare 1st edition.
The Family Magazine
Part 1. Containing Useful Directions in All the Branches of HOUSE-KEEPING and COOKERY Particularly Shewing How to Buy-in the Best of all Sorts of provisions; As Poultry-Ware, Butchers-Meat, Fish, Fruit, &c. With several Hundred Receipts in COOKERY, PASTRY, PICKLING, CONFECTIONARY, DISTILLING, BREWING, COSMETICKS, C. (a single line) PART 11. Containing A Compendious BODY of PHYSICK’ TREATING All the Diseases and Accidents INCIDENT TO MEN, WOMEN, and CHILDREN: WITH Practical Rules and Directions for the Preserving and Restoring of Health, and Prolonging Life. (a single line) In a Method intirely New and Intelligent; in which every Disease is rationally and practically considered, in its several Stages and Changes; and approved RECIPE’s inserted under every Distemper, in Alphabetical Order. Being principally the Common-place Book of a late able PHYSICIAN, by which he successfully, for many Years, regulated his Practice. (a single line) With a SUPPLEMENT, containing a great Variety of Experienced Receipts, from Two Excellent FAMILY COLLECTIONS. (a single line) Now First communicated for the Public Benefit. (a single line) To which is Added, As Explanation of such Terms of Art used in the WORK, as could not be so easily reduced to the Understanding of common Readers. ( a double line) LONDON: Printed for J. Osborn,at the Golden-Ball in Paternoster-Row. (a single line) MDCCXLI.
FIRST EDITION 1741. 8vo. 1fep. Title page, with a library stamp of St. Francis Xavier College 1847. New York, N.Y. On verso the same library stamp. iii-xiv The Preface. 2nd Title page to Part 1. [1] (1)2-123. 3p Index to the first Part. Title page to Part 11, with the same library stamp, also on the verso. [1] iii-xiv The Preface. 2nd Title page to Part 11. [1] (1)2-270. 271-315 Supplement. 316-318 Explanation of difficult words, also has the library stamp on p318. (2)321-324 Index. 1fep. There are some illustrations in the text for placing dishes on the table. Sometime rebound by Beranad Middleton in full period style speckled calf, with his signature in pencil on the lower inside back pastedown. The boards bordered with double gilt lines. Spine with raised bands and gilt lines with red label in gilt lettering and lines. Old tape repair to p13-14 of part 11. Skilful paper repair without loss to p303-304, also has the library stamp at the bottom of p304. A little age browning to first and last few leaves, but overall a very good copy.
- Arabella Atkyns was a pseudonym coined by the author who states in the preface “Being still teized [sic] for some Name, I will, tho’ not my right one, subscribe to That of Arabella Atkyns”. Oxford states on p72 that part 11, the medical section is taken from a common-place book of her brother who was a Physician. She also apologises for including treatments for maladies which a lady can hardly be expected to include. Oxford further states that the cookery section is well arranged, but the medical part is full of horrors. The treatment for appendicitis is ‘to apply a live puppy to the naked belly’ and follows up with a cataplasm of rotten apples or of ‘sheeps-dung boil’d with milk’. It is believed that Hannah Glasse borrowed much from this book for her ‘Compleat Confectioner’ circa 1760. MacLean has the 1st and cites a 2nd of 1743, 3rd of 1747, 4th of 1754. Oxford p71. Axford p143. Bitting p550. Craig p478. MacLean p49. Pennell p150.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11225

Reynolds. M. A. Very rare. ?
THE COMPLETE ART OF COOKERY,
EXHIBITED IN A PLAIN AND EASY MANNER, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MARKETING; THE SEASONS FOR MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, GAME, ETC. BY M.A. REYNOLDS. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY NEWMAN & CO. MDCCCL. Surrounded by an ornate border of leaves.
FIRST EDITION 1850. 130x82 mm. 1fep. Half Title. [2] Frontispiece with a double line border. Title page. [1] (1)viii-xx Contents. (1)22-242 with many etchings in the text. 243-256 Bills of Fare. Last page at the end – J.S. Pratt, Printer, Stokesley, Yorkshire. 1fep. Untrimmed text block. Original brown cloth covers, blinds stamped. Spine scuffed at each end. Very clean internally. A nice copy in the original state.
- After much research, information about this title and author cannot be found. Not showing in any of the bibliographies. COPAC also showing no copies. Researching online for the printer J.S. Pratt of Stokesley, Yorkshire, the following interesting data was found; The Pratt, Stokesley printing collection, was formerly the property of D W Richardson. It was housed at Stokesley library from 1978, but has now been moved to Northallerton library. The collection consists of about 200 items, mostly books, printed in Stokesley during the mid to late nineteenth century. The bulk of the collection was printed by J S Pratt, but other printers such as W F Pratt, Tweddell and Sons and W Braithwaite also feature. In conclusion one must attribute rarity to this little tome. If anyone has any other relevant information about this book I would very much appreciate being contacted thro' this site.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11226

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

Cheyne. George M.D. F.R.S.
AN ESSAY OF HEALTH AND LONG LIFE.
By George Cheyne, M.D. F.R.S. (a single line) The Second Edition. (a single line) Greek lettering – Hippoc. An Imbecillis (quo in Numero magna Pars Urbanorum, omnesque pene Cupidi Li-terarum sunt) Observatio major neces-saria est: ut quod vel corporis, vel Loci, vel Studii Ratio detrahit, Cu-ra sestituat. Celf. (a single line) LONDON. Printed for George Strahan, at the Golden Ball over-against the Rpyal Exchange in Cornhill’ and J.Leake, Bookseller at Bath. 1724. (the page with a two line border)
8vo. 1fep. Title Page. [1] Dedication to Sir Joseph Jekyll. [1] i-xx Preface. c-e4 Contents. e5-e6 In Clarissimi Medici with printers device. 1p Advertisements. (1)2-232. Inside the text as new. Full original calf binding. Dark and light brown panelling on boards with blind tooling, and raised bands on spine. A very good copy in fine original state.
- A very interesting 18th century treatise on health, well written by an eminent Scottish pioneering physician; George Cheyne M.D. R.C. E.d. R.S.S. (1671–1743) who regulated his own bad health by embracing vegetarianism after becoming obese with rich food and drink. He was a popular doctor and published a number of treatises on health and diet. There are chapters on the use and effects of meat, fish, vegetables wine etc. He also published other works on fevers, nervous disorders, and hygiene. In 1740, he penned his last work, a study of nutrition and natural living, 'The Natural Method of Cureing [sic] the Diseases of the Body, and the Disorders of the Mind'. Bitting p86 for a copy in French. Not in any other bibliographies. Another second edition, but confusingly dated 1725, was sold at the auction of the Marcus Crahan collection in New York, 1984.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11228

Ritz. M.L. - Signed by Madame Ritz.
Cesar Ritz.
A PARIS EDITIONS JULES TALLANDIER 17, RUE REMY-DUMONCEL.
FIRST EDITION. (copyright 1948) 1fep. Half Title with a dedication – “A Monsieur A. Kienberger Souvenir du Cinqn au tenaire en Jenuoiguage de Symphathie – Marie Louise Ritz. June 1948. (apologies for possible mistakes. Madame Ritz’s writing is hard to decipher). [2] Frontispiece photograph of Cesar Ritz. [1] 1p Dedication to Colonel Hans Pfyffer d’ Altishofon. [1] 1p Avertissement. [1] 11-285(1) 1fep. Numerous early full-page b/w photographs. Pages untrimmed and some uncut. Cream paper covers, with a picture of the Paris Ritz Hotel on the front. On the back a printers device.
- This is the story of a great Hotelier written by his dedicated wife Marie Louise Ritz. She was also a very experienced Hotelier in her own right, taking over the running of the Ritz Hotels after Cesar’s well documented breakdown. Even tho’ the last years of Ritz’s life were sad, he made a fundamental and profound change to Hotels. His innovations are little realised, even by those at the top of the industry today. What Cesar Ritz consciously set out to achieve was design hotels from the ground up for the benefit of women only. Using all the new inventions like electricity, hot water in bathrooms in each room, beautiful feminine furnishings and décor and above all fine food. To that end he teamed up with his old colleague & collaborator Auguste Escoffier, the great Chef. Escoffier joined Ritz at his first venture in England in April 1890, at the newly built Savoy Hotel. Escoffier had initially refused to join Ritz in London, but after a visit, he was overwhelmed by the innovative beauty of the new hotel and took charge of the kitchens. This was the final arrangement that assured the Savoy's success. Ritz very astutely understood that if women were enticed thro the doors of his well thought out establishments, and above all felt comfortable there, their men would follow. This proved to be a huge success, causing an industry sea-change, highlighting the poor way hotels had operated up until then, having always been designed solely for the use of men. Women had not frequented these places since their inception centuries before. Now Ritz’s hotels had a huge customer increase, targeting approximately 50% of the population that had never eaten out before. Not only that, the occupancy of hotel rooms increased dramatically. In the book Madame Ritz tells of his triumphs with understandable pride, filling her pages with the names of royalty, statesmen, famous beauties and those who follow them. Discretion prevents her from making her book more than a collection of society-gossip paragraphs, but the collection covers a period of great social change. Ritz was successful because he anticipated most of those changes; many distinguished people saw their first real bathroom in a Ritz hotel. Marie-Louise Ritz, nee Beck, was born in Alsace on the 29th October 1867, the daughter of a hotelier family. Her mother owned a small hotel in Menton. On 16th January 1888, 38 year old Caesar Ritz married the well educated and multi-lingual young lady who was only 21 years old. Before the marriage there had been a long period of friendship and companionship. Their wedding took place in Cannes. Marie-Louise Ritz gave birth to two sons: Charles and René Ritz. Cesar was the undoubted star of the hotel industry, and was managing up to ten hotels at the zenith of his accomplishments. Shortly after that he began to suffer from breakdowns and depression. In 1902 his illness forced him to pass over his business to his wife Marie-Louise Ritz. She carried on her husband's hotel empire as first hotel manageress in the world. Caesar Ritz retreated to his beloved home village Niederwald, in Central Switzerland, for the last 16 years. He died in a clinic on the 25th October 1918. Marie-Louise had him buried in the graveyard of Père Lachaisein, Paris. On Saturday 14th January, 1961, a special train from Paris took the small coffin of the deceased Marie-Louise Ritz, and in a larger one, containing the disinterred bodies of Caesar Ritz and his son René Ritz. The two coffins were laid out in the birth house of Caesar on the outskirts of the little village. The village people walked by loyally until Monday and prayed for their great son and his family. On Monday morning the two coffins were then laid out on the village square next to the Ritz Memorial Well. On the same day a special train brought the mourners. At the head of the group was Cesar & Louise’s first-born son, 70 year old Charles Ritz, the owner of the Hotel Ritz in Paris. The whole village of Niederwald took part in the burial with all of the older generation who knew the Ritz family personally. The press of the world were also present. This is a story of a couple who, thro’ very hard work, vast experience, attention to the finest details, achieved a lasting reputation for the highest quality and service that even earned them lasting affection and gratitude from not only the elite of European society, but all the people that benefited from their enterprise.

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Modern category

ref number: 11229

Escoffier. Georges Auguste - Extremely Rare.
An original b/w photograph of Auguste Escoffier.
SITTING WITH HIS FULL KITCHEN BRIGADE. 1905.
320 mm long x 153 mm high. Under the photograph is a small cut out of the original mount, stating; The Carlton Hotel. 1905. The photograph is mounted on a black cardboard border and covered by glass and bordered with a black and silver frame. One of his most famous pupils; Charles Scotto, sits in the photograph fourth from the left on the second row. Pasted on the back is the original photographer’s name in gilt, cut from the mount before it was framed. It was by Fradelle & Young, 283 Regents St. London W.1. They specialised in hotel and restaurant group photography of dinners, receptions & full kitchen brigades. ITEM 2. See image # 5. below. For reference; I requested a scan done by the framers of the original large photograph used. It shows in full a large ugly part of the Carlton Hotel roof, which was cut out before framing.
- This rare original photograph of Auguste Escoffier and his kitchen brigade, was taken on the roof of the Carlton Hotel 1905. A casual glance at this old image belies the contemporary history that Escoffier brought about by very hard work, his great extensive writings, his organisational skills, and a huge passion to improve the lot of his beloved chefs. It is one of the reasons why he is held in such high esteem, and a feeling of deep gratitude lies in the hearts of most well trained modern chefs, because his updated re-organisation of the large Kitchen brigade is still the way modern kitchens are organised. The following list is of the different members and departments of his large kitchen brigade system. Only the largest of hotels like the Carlton Hotel had this fully staffed brigade (54 people in this photograph) with all the following departments fully functioning. Escoffier devised this system, primarily during his time at the Savoy Hotel London, before going to the Carlton from 1899 to 1919. This very efficient organisation allowed sincere chefs to learn all the important skills of every department in the largest kitchen brigades. Staring at the top was the MAITRE-CHEF de CUISINE (literally translated; "Master Chef") Responsible for overall management of kitchen; supervises staff, creates menus and new recipes with the assistance of the restaurant manager, makes purchases of raw food items, trains apprentices, and maintains a sanitary and hygienic environment for the preparation of food. SOUS-CHEF de CUISINE (deputy head chef; literally "sub-chief") Receives orders directly from the chef de cuisine for the management of the kitchen, and often serves as the representative when the chef de cuisine is not present. Does not usually work on the stove anymore. In a big brigade there can be as many as 4-6 sous-chefs. CHEF de PARTIE (senior chef of a department) Responsible for managing a department in the kitchen, specializing in preparing particular dishes there. CHEF TOURNANT (Can be a Chef de partie in any department) The most experienced, having trained as a Chef de partie in every department. Will cover for any Chef de partie on their days off or holidays. Usually fills any vacancy for the Sous-chef’s position. CHEF SAUCIER (Chef de partie of the sauce dept.) Prepares all meat sauces and stocks and completes meat dishes. This is one of the most respected positions in the kitchen brigade. CHEF ROTTISEUR (Chef de partie of the roast department.) Manages a team of cooks that roasts, broils, and deep fries dishes. CHEF POISSONNIER (Chef de partie of the fish department.) Prepares all fish and seafood dishes and fish sauces and stocks. Usually has a fishmonger in the department. CHEF ENTREMETIER (Chef de partie of vegetable and farinaceous department.) Prepares all vegetables, soups and egg dishes. CHEF GARDE-MANAGER (Chef de partie of the cold larder.) Responsible for preparation of cold hors d'oeuvres, pâtés, terrines and aspics; prepares salads; organizes large buffet displays; and prepares charcuterie items. Usually the largest staffed department in the kitchen. CHEF PATTISIER (Chef de partie of pastry department.) Prepares desserts and other meal-end sweets, ices, cakes, petit-fours, pulled sugar works, also has a ‘boulanger’, preparing breads and other baked items; may also prepare pasta for the restaurant. BOUCHER (the butcher) Butchers meats, poultry, prepare meats for the Garde manger’s pates and terrines. Clean all game ready for roasting. May also be in charge of breading meats. CUISINIER (cook) May also be referred to as a cuisinier de partie. Also known as a ‘demi-chef de partie’ who takes over from the Chef de partie on his days off. COMMIS (junior cook) Works in a specific partie, but reports directly to the chef de partie. Can also be 2nd or 3rd commis depending on age and experience. The Chef de cuisine changes their departments annually to give them all round experience of all ‘parties’. APPRENTIE (apprentice.) Often students gaining theoretical and practical training, in school and work experience in the kitchen. They perform preparatory work under a Chef de Partie. PLONGEUR or MARMITON (dishwasher or kitchen porter.) cleans dishes and utensils, and may be entrusted with basic preparatory jobs. ABOYEUR (announcer/expediter) During the meal service times takes the orders from the dining room waiters and distributes them to the various departments; the role usually performed by the Sous-chef. CHEF COMMUNARD Prepares the meal served to the restaurant staff. GARCON de CUISINE (literally ‘kitchen boy’) In larger establishments, performs preparatory and auxiliary work for support. This photograph gives an insight into how many chefs are employed in the large well known luxury hotels. The range of skills that have to be mastered is huge. A commis chef's apprenticeship usually lasted up to 7 years. Even after that, a lot of chefs move to other well known establishments to gain more experience. Indeed a great chef's career path is always dictated by quality and reputation. Because the initial years as an apprentice is so tough and very focused on improving skills, they never lose the desire to learn. As a foot note and interestingly, in all photographs I have viewed of Escoffier sitting with his full kitchen brigades, (and they were done annually) He always sat sideways to the direct camera angle. Curious.!

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11230

Peckham. Ann - Very scarce.
THE Complete English COOK
OR PRUDENT HOUSEWIFE.BEING, A Collection of the most general, yet least expen-sive RECEIPTS in every Branch of COOKERY and Good Housewifery, With DIRECTIONS for Roasting, Boiling, Stewing, Ragoos, Soops, Sauces, (a perpendicular separating line) Fricassees, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Cheese-cakes, Custards, Jellies, (a perpendicular separating line) Potting, Candying, Collaring, Pickling, Preserving, Made Wines &c. Together with Directions for placing Dishes on Tables of Entertainment: And many other Things equally ne-cessary. The whole made easy in the meanest Capacity, and far more useful to young beginners than any Book of the Kind extant. (a flat separating line) By ANN PECKHAM, of Leeds, Well know to have been for Forty Years one of the most noted Cooks in the County of York. (a flat separating line) The THIRD EDITION (a flat separating line) TO WHICH IS ADDED A SUPPLEMENT, Containing Forty Nine Receipts, never before printed. (a flat separating line) LEEDS: Printed for Griffith Wright and John Binns: And sold by G. Robinson, and Fielding and Walker, Paster-noster Row; J. Wallis, No. 16, Ludgate-Street, London; and all other Booksellers in Town and Country. [ Price Two Shillings Bound. ]
N/d. 12mo. 2 feps. Title page. [1] (1)iv. Preface. 5-218. 214-242 Illustrated pages of Dinners and Suppers for a whole year. 9 pages of Index. 2 feps. The whole text block lightly age browned throughout. Original dark brown leather boards with slightly scuffed corners. Sympathetically rebound spine in brown leather with raised bands and two red leather labels, with gilt text and lines. Overall, a nice copy of a very scarce title originating in and from Yorkshire.
- Not much can be found out about Ann Peckham, except from her book itself. She writes in her Preface that the recipes are the result of forty years practice in the best families in and about Leeds. She goes further, telling us amusingly, with a touch of Yorkshire plainness and prudence, that the recipes are not fluffed out with a nauseous hodge-podge of French kickshaws; and yet the real delicacies of the most sumptuous entertainments are by no means neglected. Oxford adds in the notes to his copy of Peckham’s Complete Cook, that the title page has been taken boldly from ‘The Complete English Cook’ by Cathrine Brooks. A disconcerting snippet that can't be reconciled in any way without further info or research. One wonders naturally, how much of Brooks’ recipes are also in the text. The first edition appeared in 1767, with a second of 1771. This undated third; circa 1775, is the first with a supplement. MacLean records two 4th editions of 1790. Cagle, page 662; Oxford, page 95; Bitting, page 360, citing a 3rd edition; Vicaire, page 669, also a 3rd edition.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11231