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Soyer. Alexis Benoit - In fine original condition.
Soyer's Culinary Campaign
BEING HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF THE LATE WAR. WITH THE PLAIN ART OF COOKERY FOR MILITARY AND CIVIL INSTITUTIONS, THE ARMY, NAVY, PUBLIC, ETC. ETC. By ALEXIS SOYER, AUTHOR OF "THE MODERN HOUSEWIFE" "SHILLING COOKERY FOR THE PEOPLE" ETC. LONDON: G.ROUTELEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. NEW YORK: 18, BEEKHAM STREET. 1857. {The right of translation is reserved.]
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION. 1857. 1fep a small tipped in inscribed letter to a mother from a soldier at the battle-front at Kadikoi. [1] Frontispiece of an aged Soyer. Title page with tissue guard. [1] 1pp Dedication to Lord Panmure. [1] 1pp Preface. On the verso of the preface is another tipped in note in the same script, relaying a story about Soyer. [1] 2pp Contents. An illustrated drawing of Soyer by H.G.Hine. [1] 1-593. [1] 1p Index to Addenda. 2pp Advertisements. 1fep. The frontispiece nice and clean. Overall very clean inside. Original blue cloth binding with bright gilt pictorial vignette on front cover and the original gilt device and text on the spine. Blind tooling also on both covers. A very interesting volume and a rare item in this condition.
- The story behind this book starts on 2 February 1855, when Soyer wrote to The Times offering to go to the Crimea at his own expense to advise on the cooking for the army there. He began by revising the diet sheets for the hospitals at Scutari and Constantinople. In two visits to Balaklava he, Florence Nightingale and the medical staff re-organised the provisioning of the hospitals; he also began to cook for the fourth division of the army. On 3 May 1857 he returned to London, and on 18 March 1858 he lectured at the United Service Institution on cooking for the army and navy. He also built a model kitchen at the Wellington Barracks, London. He died on 5 August 1858 at St. John's Wood, London and was buried on 11 August in Kensal Green cemetery. Soyer wrote many other cookery books including: Délassements Culinaires. (1845) The Gastronomic Regenerator (1846) Soyer's Charitable Cookery (1847) The Poorman's Regenerator (1848) The Modern Housewife of Menagere (1850) The Pantropheon; or, History of Food (1853) A Shilling Cookery Book for the People (1855) and lastly this volume, Soyer's Culinary Campaign (1857).

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11242

Murray. Ross - rare recipes for Swan.
THE MODERN HOUSEHOLDER:
A MANUAL OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES. COMPILED AND EDITED BY A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. With original Illustrations Printed in Colours by Tronheim. AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. (A round printer’s device for Warne and Co.) LONDON: FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN. NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, WELFORD, AND ARMSTRONG.
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION - 1st ISSUE. Thick 8vo. 194 x 135 mm. 1fep. [1] Frontispiece of Potatoes. 1 tissue-guard. Title page. [1] (1)vi Preface. (1)viii Contents. (1)x List of Coloured Plates. (1)x List of Woodcuts. (1)2-689. (1)691-722 Index. 2p Advertisements. 1fep. 19 Coloured plates. Many In-text woodcut Illustrations. Very clean internally. Modern ¼ leather binding with marbled boards. Flat spine with gilt lines and text. In very good condition.
- Interestingly, there are 2 exact same copies of this book except for the frontispieces. They are different in both copies. One has as a frontis of the colour plate that faces page 54, featuring various flower ornamentations. This copy has the frontispiece, illustrating the various types of potatoes. This was published first, and one suspects, that because the publishers did not issue a large print run, and due to higher demand, they inserted the other forntis for the second issue. The book format is similar to Beeton’s great household management book, especially with the fine colour plates and in-text b/w woodcut illustrations. In many ways it also as interesting as Beeton’s but quite different in content. An example is Ross Murray’s recipes on pages 338/9 for roasting and making gravy from Swan. As can be seen online, there are many articles on the cooking of Swans, with some of the information edited and reproduced here: Due to the law since the 12th century, all swans at liberty on open waters belong to the Crown by prerogative right, and are the property of the Crown. Mute swans (the common Eurasian swan we see in UK, having the familiar white plumage and an orange-red bill with a black knob at the base) also have statutory protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. By 1378 the office of 'Keeper of the King's Swans' was in existence and a document exists, entitled, "The Lawes, Orders and Customs for Swans", dating to 1482/3. From a gastronomic viewpoint, mature swans have little subcutaneous fat and their flesh is exceedingly dry, making them a tough and entirely unsuitable subject for barbecuing. This is what Ross Murray writes; “The cygnets when all hatched are of a slate-grey, which grows lighter as they grow older. The cygnets of the wild swan are white. But it is of the grey cygnets we have to speak. They are hatched in June. If they are intended for the kitchen, they are put into a separate swan pond at the end of August or the first week in September. After they have been "hopped or upped", as it is called, from their native place, grass is thrown to them twice a day with their other food for a fortnight. They are fattened on barley: a coomb (4 bushels) for each cygnet suffices for the fattening. Cygnets can only be fattened before the white feathers appear; after that no further feeding will do any good. As soon as a white feather shows they will cease fattening, no matter what food they have. They can consequently only be eaten in December, and they are a capital and magnificent Christmas dish. Their weight then will be from 25 lbs to 28 lbs.” They were slaughtered the moment their white adult plumage appeared, which pretty well coincided with Christmas. They were seven months old and very obese. Murray goes on to tell us that swan was a popular local dish in Norfolk and explains how they were roasted in homes in that county on a spit in front of the fire as a Christmas dish. He explains that the finished swan was garnished with four little swans carved out of turnips and 'a paper frill, nicely cut, about the shoulders. Other famous Chefs have recipes for swan in their cookery books. Published by the 17th century master cook Robert May, in his famous tome entitled; ‘The Accomplisht Cook’, (item # 10965 on this site) he gives recipes for 'A Swan roast' and 'A Swan Pye'. Nearly a hundred years after May published the bill of fare above, another Christmas dinner featuring a swan pie, this time as a centrepiece for the first course appeared in John Thacker's The Art of Cookery (Newcastle upon Tyne: 1758). Thacker was the cook to the Dean and Chapter at Durham Cathedral where there had been a swannery since well before the Reformation. Edward Kidder also published in his beautiful cookery book (see item # 10966 on this site), a small recipe for Swan Pye on page 6.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11243

Soyer. Alexis Benoit Rare; signed twice.
Written by Soyer, whilst in the Crimea.
"Scutari Barrack Hospital, Constantinople. 26th April 1855. My Dear Sir I am happy to inform you that since the last time I had the pleasure of shaking hands with you, I have employed my time with the greatest success and no doubt inform the receipt you will have heard thro the public press of the rapid progress I have made – I have now left for a few days the great Barrack Hospital of Scutari for Kullalee, where my services are also required - I shall shortly proceed to Balaclava. I have not yet presented my accounts which I need hardly say far exceeds the amount advanced me by the Government, having brought with me two cooks from Paris, besides my Secretary, but will do so very shortly – A Soyer - I apprehend W. Hilton, the Purveyor in Chief is the gentleman to whom I shall have to apply – With the highest consideration I have the honour to be yours very ably. A Soyer. ___ Croome Esquire."
1½ pages of Soyer's light script written while in the Crimea. Signed at the bottom of the first page, including the extra half page postscript with the second signature. Measuring 13 x 7½ inches with folds‚ in good clean condition‚ with an integral blank leaf. The letter housed in a slip inside a handsome folder with red marbled paper and label.
- The Crimean War was a military conflict fought between October 1853 and March 1856, in which Russia lost to an alliance of France, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. Alexis Soyer (1810 – 1858)‚ the French chef who became the most celebrated cook in Victorian England, enhanced his reputation by his involvement in the welfare of the wounded soldiers in the war. His reputation was already assured as he had also worked to alleviate the suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849)‚ and towards their relief, he contributed a penny for every copy sold of his pamphlet 'The Poor Man's Regenerator' (pub; 1847). During the Crimean War‚ Soyer went to the Crimea at his own expense to advise the army on cooking more nutritious and healthy food. Later he was paid his expenses and wages equivalent to those of a Brigadier-General. In the North Wales Chronicle of Saturday May 5th 1855, in a quite full account written by Soyer himself and sent to the paper, we learn that he opened his large kitchen on the site of a previous Turkish kitchen, on Easter Monday at the huge Barrack Hospital in Scutari. Present was a number of Ladies and Gentlemen who tasted the new diet, compared to dishes alongside of the old diet. It was a huge success. In the article, Soyer expresses a fulsome gratitude to Florence Nightingale for her good organisational skills and help in providing him with all the materials he needed to start the Kitchen. (It is recorded elsewhere however, that she did not much appreciate Soyer and his efforts, openly criticising him). Soyer's work was very successful; it started to save countless lives that otherwise, before his efforts, would have been lost. The mortality rate alone at Scutari's Barrack Hospital was 100 soldiers and upwards daily. An unimaginable toll. Florence Nightingale's well documented, heroic nursing standards were not enough. However much Nightingale was put out by the flamboyant Soyer, the pragmatic synergy between their differing aspects of care; medical combined with a nutritious balanced diet was crucial. In the "Memoirs of Soyer" written and published 1859, by his two secretaries, F.Volant & J.R.Warren, they inform us that the death rate was putting such a strain on the hospital staff, that the bodies were just rolled up in their bed blankets and buried in mass pits. Soyer also provided the new diet at Balaclava, and at three institutions at Kullalee, and was very well supported there by Lady Stafford, having been previously interviewed about his Catering needs by her husband, Lord Stafford. At that time also, Soyer was waiting for his soon-to-be-famous new model camp-stove which was capable of cooking continuously for 200 soldiers every three hours. One can only imagine the magnitude of effort there. Soyer himself did not escape unscathed. His two secretaries also write that Soyer himself, due to overwork, fever and severe dysentery over a long period of time nearly died. Interestingly, he was saved by the intelligent ministrations of a very young 21 year old doctor, Mr Ambler. Despite, at first, large misgivings about the young Dr Ambler, he quickly revived Soyer with a diet of iced drinks, a little solid food and a daily quantity of eggs beaten up with port wine. For the rest of his time in the Crimea, the young doctor became a very good friend and companion to an extremely grateful Soyer. Finally, at the end of the Welsh newspaper article is a wonderful praising statement by Brigadier General, Commanding Troops - W. Pauley, where he fully approves of the way Soyer has taken the usual provisions, re-arranged the proportions and made such a difference with the simple act of cooking. As all Soyer’s personal papers were burned just after his death, then this extremely rare and pertinent letter, could only have come from the aforementioned Mr Cromme’s extant estate.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11244

Dalgairns Mrs - The 2nd Edition.
The Practice of Cookery.
ADAPTED BY THE BUSINESS OF EVERY DAY LIFE. BY MRS DALGAIRNS. SECOND EDITION. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR CADELL AND COMPANY EDINBURGH: SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON: AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. [A small single line] 1829. [an messy ink stain in the top right corner, not affecting text].
174 x 105 mm. fep. Title page. [1]. Preface (1)vi-viii. Preface to the second edition. [1]. Index (1)xii-xxix. [1] Half Title page. [1]. (1)2-524. Appendix (1)526-528. 1fep. 1455 recipes in total. Full dark tan contemporary binding. Original re-backed spine with black label and gilt lettering. Some ink writing on the title page and with a small hole not affecting the text. Overall a nice copy.
- Online there is a surprising amount of detailed information about Mrs Dalgairns and her book: "The Practice of Cookery Adapted to the Business of Every-day Life.". Most of the information can be found at three places: #1 - http://www.cooksinfo.com --- #2 - http://www.electricscotland.com -- #3 – The Papers of The Bibliographical Society of Canada, Vol 45, No 1 (2007) 'A Fortuitous Nineteenth-Century Success Story' by Mary F. Williamson of York University, Toronto, Canada. Most of the relevant information online is reproduced here. Mrs Dalgairns had the ‘The Practice of Cookery’ published in 1829, and republished up until 1860. This copy is a 2nd edition, published in Edinburgh in 1829, the same year as the 1st edition, also published there. Cagle has a 2nd, and proclaims it is not shown in any other bibliographies consulted. Interestingly Cagle's 2nd edition asks for 532 pages. This copy has 528 and appears to be complete. One can only assume the missing 4 pages are advertisements. Catherine Emily Callbeck Dalgairns was an upper-middle class amateur foodie. The goal of the book was to enable any cook or housekeeper of limited experience to know how to prepare well most dishes in fashion at the time. She hoped that, at the same time, it might "be no less useful to the mistress of a family, if required for occasional reference." She stated at the outset that she was not providing any new recipes, but trying to select the best amongst those "already established in public favour." She either tested them herself, or relied on the opinion of "persons whose accuracy in the various manipulations could be safely relied upon." She used an unusual and helpful method in her book. Instead of doing all her introductory remarks lumped together at the beginning of the book, she put relevant remarks at the start of each chapter. She provided both a chapter list at the front, and an index at the back. Catherine was born into a privileged family in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), approximately in the late 1780s. She had three sisters, and two brothers. She was very much a child of the British Empire. Though born on Prince Edward Island, she had relatives in Ireland, England and in the American colonies. Her parents were Phillips (sic) Callbeck (1743 to 28 February 1790) and Anne Coffin (1752 to 15 October 1826.) Her father was Attorney-General and Surrogate-General of Probate of the Island of St John (aka Prince Edward Island), then president of His Majesty's Council for the same colony. He owned 20,000 acres of land there. During the American Revolution, he was taken prisoner during a sally by two American privateers into Charlottetown Harbour, taken south to the American colonies, and handed over to Colonel George Washington. Washington set him free with a letter of apology. On 11 September 1808, Catherine married Peter Dalgairns (born in Scotland on 29 October 1793. The couple left PEI sometime shortly afterward, living first in London, then moving to Dundee, Scotland around 1822. In 1829, she published her cookbook. The couple never returned to Prince Edward Island. They both died in Dundee, Scotland: Catherine on 1 March 1844 and Peter in 1853. Occasionally, you may see her referred to as perhaps the first "Canadian" cookbook author. Her Canadian association is tenuous, though, and mostly an accident of birth. It may be more accurate to term her, as does Mary F. Williamson, a 'British North American'. As far as the cook book is concerned, being printed in Edinburgh by an author residing in Dundee, the recipes are not exclusively Scottish. The recipes are highly varied, with many French culinary terms. There are recipes for Currie, Indian Pancakes, Caveach of Fish, Meat Kebabs, a rather basic Sauce Robert, a Boudin a la’ Richlieu. An interesting and fairly original Cookery book. Oxford p163 for a 1st edition. Bitting a 6th of 1836.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11245

MacDonald Duncan - The 1st edition - 2nd issue.
The New London Family Cook:
OR, TOWN AND COUNTRY HOUSEKEEPER’s GUIDE. COMPREHENDING DIRECTIONS FOR MARKETING. With illustrative Plates, on a principle entirely new; General Observations, and Bills of Fare for every Week in the Year; Practical Instructions for preparing SOUPS, BROTHS, GRAVIES, SAUCES, AND MADE DISHES; AND FOR DRESSING FISH, VENISON, HARES, BUTCHERS’ MEAT, POULTRY, GAME, &C. IN ALL THEIR VARIETIES. With the respective Branches of PASTRY AND CONFECTIONARY, THE ART OF POTTING, PICKLING, PRESERVING, &C. COOKERY FOR THE SICK, AND FOR THE POOR; Directions for Carving; And a Glossary of the most generally received French and English Terms in the Culinary Art. ALSO A COLLECTION OF VALUABLE FAMILY RECIPES, IN DYEING, PERFUMERY, &C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR BREWING, MAKING OF BRITISH WINES, DISTILLING, MANAGING THE DAIRY, AND GARDENING. AND AN APPENDIX, Containing General Directions for Servants relative to the Cleaning of Household Furniture, Floor-Cloths, Stoves, Marble Chimney-pieces, &c. Forming in the whole a most complete FAMILY INSTRUCTOR. [a small line] BY DUNCAN MACDONALD, LATE HEAD COOK AT THE BEDFORD TAVERN AND HOTEL, COVENT GARDEN, AND ASSITANTS. [two very fine double lines] London: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J.ROBINS AND CO. IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
FIRST EDITION 2nd issue. Circa 1800. 12 mo. 1 fep. [1] Frontispiece of Macdonald’s portrait, ‘Published by J.Robins & Albion Press London’. Title page. [1] Preface 2 pages. (1)6 – 600. In-text 10 pages Plates of Carving and Butchery, Table settings and Bills of Fare, nine of the plates without an imprint, except one “Desserts” which is imprinted with ‘Engraved for Macdonald’s New London Cook’. 609-619 Tables of Marketing. 620-621 Conclusion. 622-630 Index. 2 pages Advertisements. 1fep. Frontispiece and the last for pages lightly damp browned. The text block is quite clean. With a modern binding of marbled boards with a quarter brown calf, raised bands, blind tooling with gilt text. Overall a good copy.
- The unusual information on the title page that informs us that the author is Duncan Macdonald the late Head Cook….. and also his assistants. What could this mean.? That Macdonald is dead and the book is written by, or collated by his assistants. Or does it mean Macdonald no longer works there and his ex-assistants took a part in the writing of the book after he had gone. Or did Macdonald write the book with the help of assistants. If this last is the case, and they were important enough to be included in the title page, then why not name them.? The mentioning of the “two servants” might be explained by the inclusion of the two page “Conclusion” on page 620 where it states that “The Proprietors of Macdonald’s New London Family Cook, cannot suffer the Volume to be closed, without remarking, that the promises, which they held forth in their promises for Publishing it, have been realised in their fullest extent”. It further states that “In addition to Mr Macdonald’s instructions for Cookery, in all its branches; for Marketing, and Carving: for Pastry, Confectionary, Potting, Pickling, and Preserving; they pledged themselves to furnish”….. etc etc etc. So, there we have it! All the other title page branches being added by the Proprietors. Using MacDonald’s name and his key chapters of Cookery etc, the Proprietors have put together a very comprehensive and interesting book. The effort has been thorough and sincere as can be seen by the inclusion of the well designed the frontispiece portrait of Macdonald. Quite how much of the material is original and how much is plagiarized would take some research. On page 197, there is a recipe for ‘The West-Indian Method of Dressing a Turtle’. When checked against an original handwritten publisher’s manuscript with the recipe "To dress a Turtle in the West India Way" inside a copy of the 4th edition of 1751 of Hannah Glasse’s famous work; “The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy”, see item # 10968 on page 16 of this website, the Macdonald recipe is identical in composition with every sentence cleverly re-arranged using the same words. In a recent conversation with Uta Schumacher Voelker she confirmed that the 1st Edition – 1st issue has the sentence in the title “An Alphabetical List of the most respectable Manufacturers and Dealers in the various Articles connected with Domestic Economy”. This copy does not have it, pointing towards a 2nd issue. MacLean informs of a second edition printed by John Cundee with the Preface dated 1808. Cagle cites only one J.Robin’s edition in the Library of Congress, but we are not told if it’s a 1st or 2nd issue. Oxford has this edition and states that it seems to be very complete.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11246

Tusser. Thomas - A popular Tudor work.
Tusser Redivivus:
Being part of Five Hundred POINTS of HUSBANDRY; DIRECTING What Corn, Grass, &c. is proper to be sown; What Trees to be Planted; How Land is to be Improved: with what ever is fit to be done for the Benefit of the Farmer in every Month of the Year. To which is added NOTES and OBSERVATIONS explaining many obsolete Terms in the said Mr Tusser, and what is agreeable to the present Practice in several Counties of this Kingdom. A WORK very necessary and useful for Gentlemen, as well as Farmers and Occupiers of Land, whether Wood-Ground, Tillage or Pasture. [a fine straight line] LONDON: Printed, and are to be sold by J. Morphew near Stationers-Hall. 1720. [the whole page with neat double-line border].
190.5 x 127 mm. Twelve monthly parts in eleven (as published, with November and December on the last title page). 1 new fep. Main Title page. [1] January - Title page, Preface on the verso, 3-16 and separate pagination. February - Title page. 3-16 and separate pagination. March - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. April - Title page [1]. 3-16 and separate pagination. May - Title page [1]. 3-16 and separate pagination. June - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. July - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. August - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. September - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. October- Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. November and December - Title page. 2-16 and separate pagination. 1page Advertisement. 1 new fep. The Title page has a small repair at the top of the page with no loss. Illustrated with fine large woodcut vignettes in each chapter. (the first 4 vignettes very nicely and pleasingly coloured in yellow). The whole text block is slightly age-browned and clean. Nicely bound in modern full tan calf with raised bans on the spine, with a red calf label and gilt lettering. Overall very good complete copy.
- First printed in 1557, this book has a charming format, giving instructions on farming in England throughout the year. An early adherent of seasonality, Tusser's writing is both witty and informative. His major work was first the ‘Hundredth Good Pointes of Husbandrie’, published by Richard Tottel and frequently reprinted. Tottel published an enlarged edition ‘Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie’ in 1573. Tusser includes a homely mix of instructions and observations about farming and country customs which offer a fascinating insight into life in Tudor England, and his work records many terms and proverbs in print for the first time (eg: A fool and his money are soon parted). In this work, he also famously presents ten characteristics the perfect cheese must have: --- "Not like Gehazi, i.e., dead white, like a leper. Not like Lot's wife, all salt. Not like Argus, full of eyes. Not like Tom Piper, "hoven and puffed". Not like Crispin, leathery. Not like Lazarus, poor. Not like Esau, hairy. Not like Mary Magdalene, full of whey or maudlin. Not like the Gentiles, full of maggots. Not like a Bishop, made of burnt milk". --- The work is written in verse in Gothic script and takes the form of a calendar with instructions in normal script to the farmer on what he should be doing in each month. In August there is a page on the gathering and storing of hops which were only introduced in the early 16th century but are here referred to as a common crop. As well as the growing, care and harvesting of crops and animals, there is advice to the house-wife on the care of foodstuffs. (In the 1744 edition there is a section on ‘Houswifery’ which runs from pages 119 – 138). Thomas Tusser had a very varied life. His father William and his mother Isabella had as well as Thomas, four other sons, Clement, Andrew, John and William, and four daughters; the marriages of the daughters are recorded, but no wives assigned to the sons. Thomas was born at Rivenhall near Kelvedon and Witham, in the County of Essex, about the year 1525. The exact date of his birth is uncertain. At a very early age he was placed by his father as a singing-boy in the Collegiate Chapel of the Castle of Wallingford, in Berkshire. Thomas himself recorded in his homely and quaint style the hardships which he had to endure at this school; the bare robes, the college fare, the stale bread, and the penny ale. Later he was impressed into the choir for the King's Chapel. After this he was admitted to the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral. From St. Paul's he was sent to Eton, probably in 1540 or 1541, "to learn the Latin phrase," From Eton he passed on to Cambridge, and was elected to King's College in 1543. Being obliged by a long illness to discontinue his studies, he left the University, and joined the Court as a retainer of William, Lord Paget, by whom he was probably employed as a musician, and of whom he spoke in terms of praise and affection. After ten years he retired into the country, married and settled down as a farmer at Cattiwade, a hamlet in the parish of Brantham in Suffolk, where he wrote the first edition of this work. He never remained long in one place. For his wife's health, he removed to Ipswich. After her death, he married again, and farmed for some time at West Dereham. He then became a singing man again in Norwich Cathedral, where he found a good patron in the dean, John Salisbury. After another experiment in farming at Fairstead, Essex, he moved once again to London, whence he was driven by the plague of 1572–1573 to find refuge at Trinity Hall, being matriculated as a servant of the college in 1573. At the time of his death he was in possession of a small estate at Chesterton, Cambridgeshire, and his will proves that he was not, as has sometimes been stated, in poverty of any kind, but had in some measure the thrift he preached. Tusser died on 3 May 1580 at the age of about 55. An erroneous inscription at Manningtree, Essex, asserts that he was 65 years old. According to John Stow's Survey of London, Cheape Ward, Thomas Tusser was buried in the now lost church of St Mildred in the Poultry. The inscription on his tomb there was as follows: "Here Thomas Tusser, clad in earth, doth lie, That sometime made the pointes of Husbandrie; By him then learne thou maiest; here learne we must, When all is done, we sleepe, and turne to dust: And yet, through Christ, to Heaven we hope to goe; Who reades his bookes, shall find his faith was so." Cagle - A Matter of Taste, p1034-1035. Bitting - Gastronomic Bibliography, p468. Lehman - The British Housewife, P29. Pollard & Redgrave – STC 1475 to 1640, p568-569 showing 20 editions up to 1638.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11247

Buckton. Catherine M. A school, cookery and history book in one.
FOOD AND HOME COOKERY.
NEW EDITION COMPRISING OF A COURSE OF LESSONS WITH DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR PRCTICAL CARRYING OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NEW CODE OF REGULATIONS OF THE EDUCTAION DEPARTMENT 1882 BY CATHERINE M. BUCKTON MEMBER OF THE LEEDS SCHOOL BOARD: AUTHOR OF 'HEALTH OF THE HOUSE' AND 'TOWN AND WINDOW GARDENING' LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. All rights reserved
120 x 178 x 12 mm. 1fep. [1] verso with Frontis of illustration of Kitchen. Title Page. verso 'Opinions of the Press'. (1)iv - vi Preface. (1)viii A Tabulation. ix - xliv Directions. (2) Contents and Illustrations. (1)xlviii Preface. (1)2 - 102. (1)104 - 108 Index. 1fep. On front inside cover; Birmingham school Board prize label. Publishers black cloth. Blind stamp title to the front board. Gilt title on the spine. Text block very clean with 14 illustrations.
- This is a very interesting book, because it sets out a very comprehensive set of cookery and hygiene lessons with sound practical domestic advice. Even with the duties of a Nurse and the diet of a nursery tackled. Also included, a fascinating history of how edible torulea yeast was discovered and used. A look at the index gives a great insight into a completely different age for women. Since the advent of mass food productions, supermarkets etc, this is less of a cookery book and more of highly pragmatic domestic history book. In researching this book and the author I came across online, this article from the Thoresby Historical Society founded in 1889. I wanted to try to reduce it somewhat, but after reading it, I decided to reprint the whole article as a small homage to Catherine Buckton. -- "In 1870 the ground-breaking Elementary Education Act gave all children the right to education up to age thirteen. School Boards were set up in all the major cities with the urgent task of providing places for all the children who had never had regular schooling – some twenty thousand in Leeds alone. Elections were held for membership of the Board, and for the first time women were allowed to stand for public office. There was bitter competition in Leeds for the fifteen seats, split by religious, political and class loyalties. Two women boldly entered the fray as Liberal candidates. Neither won a place, but for Catherine Mary Buckton it was the start of her long fight for educational opportunity and child welfare. She was the wife of Joseph Buckton, a prosperous Leeds wool and cloth merchant, living in a comfortable house overlooking Woodhouse Moor. Brought up in London and Wales, the daughter of a doctor, part of a large lively family with distinguished connections in science, philosophy and politics, she was well aware of the desperate living conditions and high death rates of the great industrial cities like Leeds and the urgent need for public health reform. She was already an active member of the Ladies’ Council of the Yorkshire Board of Education, so she was well-informed and at this stage of her life, in her forties with her two children nearly grown-up, she was ready for a challenge. She believed a key approach was through the education of girls, the wives and mothers of the future. Determined to stand again for the Board at the next election in 1873, she agreed meanwhile to run a series of evening courses for working women in Holbeck and Wortley on health, food and hygiene. Knowing most of her audience would be illiterate, she created simple diagrams and experiments to illustrate her points. Her talks proved very popular, not least because of her understanding and empathy with her listeners. She heard many disturbing tales of the superstitions and ignorance which contributed to infant deaths, and she gained insight into the terrible, demoralising conditions many working women lived in. She was encouraged to publish an account of her ‘painful but delightful’ experience, the first step in what was to become a highly successful writing career. In 1873 she won election to the Board, and was to remain the only woman member until her retirement in 1882, on occasion topping the poll. She proved a combative and articulate campaigner for girls to be taught cookery and the principles of health and hygiene, and went round schools herself to give practical lessons and demonstrations. She designed a special cupboard with all the equipment needed for cookery lessons in the schoolroom and helped to set up training schemes for teachers. Through her work Leeds won a national reputation as a leader in health education. Meanwhile she continued to write and publish, promoting her ideas. Her books ‘Health in the House’, ‘Food and Home Cookery’ and ‘Our Dwellings, Healthy and Unhealthy’, fully illustrated and clearly written, were widely read across the country, not only by women, and reprinted many times. Her love of nature and concern for the many Leeds children who had no access to gardens led her to institute an annual School Board competition for children to plant and exhibit window boxes, with hundreds of children taking part each year. Her book on this subject, ‘Town and Window Gardening’ (1879) was another popular success, and contributed to her national reputation, winning praise from Prime Minister Gladstone himself. A strong Unitarian, she remained throughout her time on the School Board a supporter of free secular education and religious freedom. Sensitive to the needs and problems of the poor, she was a vociferous fighter on their part in various battles. When she retired in 1882 she published a review of the Board’s work, with a powerful critique of penny-pinching attitudes to education. She believed in the need to provide a sound education for all children, whatever the cost – taxes should be spent on that, she declared, rather than ‘wicked, senseless wars’. She retired to London with her family and published one further book ‘Comfort and Cleanliness’ in 1894. She remained a strong believer in women’s rights and a keen advocate for women’s suffrage and equal work opportunities. She died in 1904, and a scholarship in her name was founded by her sister at Abadare Hall for women in Cardiff. Her work still resonates today, with its stress on healthy eating, good childcare, and the need to enjoy and protect the natural world". -- Even though this book will never find its place as a valued item on the shelves of a good cookery book collection, it should find a much more comfortable place in any collection of great people and unsung heroes. Remarkable.!

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11248

Escoffier. Georges Auguste Uniquely rare.
Menus and recipes signed by Escoffier.
Two menus with recipes signed and annotated with one page also initialized by Escoffier and a single recipe from the Guide Culinaire in Escoffier's typical messy hand writing. Also one page of unusual Ephemera signed twice.
Comprising: 4 different items protected in separate plastic sleeves. All housed in a marbled folder with label. -- ITEM 1. 1page. 222 x 153mm. n.d. Recipe for ‘Boeuf en Miroton’, [circa.1903] written in Escoffier’s distinctive handwriting. Comprising 18 lines outlining the recipe with a comment beneath (‘J’avais oublié ce bon Miroton’), with other annotations in pencil, and blue crayon in another hand. The page appears to be extracted from a notebook. (The recipe for Boeuf en Miroton appeared in Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire, 1st edition of 1903). Enclosed with one page of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 2. 2 pages. 265 x 207mm. Stapled. nd. Small tear to top left corner of second page; A typed menu in very clear blue ink on well preserved thin yellow paper, initialled by Escoffier on page 1, and signed by him on page 2. The first page is a “Homage à BRILLAT SAVARIN; En souvenir des Diners de la Gentilhommière de Vieu”. The first page explaining the inspiration behind the menu; Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin and his cousin, Juliette Récamier. The second page giving an extravagant 9 course menu, commencing with Hors d’oeuvres, Caviar and Huîtres crûes en Gelée de Champagne. Enclosed with 2 pages of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 3. 5 pages, 268 x 209mm. Stapled. nd. A typed menu and recipes in very clear black ink on well preserved thin white paper. Annotated and signed by Escoffier on page 5. A six course delightful dinner titled “LA PROVENCE; LES DELICES DE LA COTE D’AZUR; Pays des Rêyes dorés”. Given for ‘un personnage de nationalité anglaise’. The dishes including Melon de Cavaillon au Frontignan, Mignonettes d'Agneau de lait Mireille, and la Mousse Abricot de Rose de Monteux. Followed by all the recipes for the dishes. Enclosed with 5 pages of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 4. 1 page of ephemera. 190x 125mm. An invoice or stock note headed: Aktiebolaget Svenska Handelsbanken, Stockholm, on blue paper, interestingly, signed twice by Escoffier. With his home address in Monte-Carlo. Dated 9th January 1933. Very good condition.
- Escoffier's very full life and literary output is well documented. His Hotel collaborations with Cesar Ritz, his restaurants on board famous ocean liners, his 'Escoffier Company' range of preserved and bottled foodstuffs, his colleagues and apprentices who became famous in their own right. The associations and foundations that sprang up in his memory after he died, attest to the deep affection and respect in which he was held. These enclosed items serve up a fine glimpse of the loving and detailed effort he put into these two private functions. It also helps to show why he was held in the highest regard. -- ITEM 1: Written in Escoffier’s hand but with no date. Obviously, it’s a page from a notebook, and as it is not dated, one may assume it was written before the first publication of the recipe in his ‘Guide Culinaire’ of 1903. Otherwise why would Escoffier re-write it when it is already published. A mystery.! -- ITEM 2: Escoffier informs us that this dinner took place in the lounge of the Table Francaise of the Restaurant Garnier on rue de l,Isly. He further states that being the President of the Society of the Table Francaise, whose headquarters were also on rue de l,Isly, he Escoffier, was asked to compose the menu. -- ITEM 3. A lunch served for an unnamed English gentleman in a private villa between Cannes and Monte-Carlo. Escoffier describes the setting for the lunch in quite descriptive and poetic terms. One can almost feel the warm winter sunshine and smell the Mimosa etc. To have a menu created by the Master with accompanying recipes, is rare. -- ITEM 4. This little invoice is a mystery. Dated 23 months before his death, one wonders where Escoffier signed for this. Surely not Stockholm but a branch of Aktiebolaget Svenska Handelsbanken near the Monte-Carlo or further afield in France perhaps.? A search of the bank’s history did not enlighten. It also appears that Escoffier signed and dated the invoice in the first instance, then signed it a second time as a complimentary gift to someone. Rare indeed with the two signatures. --- Due to Escoffier’s output as a prolific writer, signed letters are very scarce but not rare, but still fetching large amounts of money at auction. However, we can elevate to extreme rarity these signed menus with fine detailed recipes and descriptions, of the two private functions organised and recorded by the great man himself.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11249

Pegge. Samuel 14th century recipes of the Master Cooks of Richard 11
THE FORME OF CURY.
A ROLL OF ANCIENT COOKERY, Compiled, about A.D. 1390, by the Master-Cooks of King Richard 11, Presented afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, by Edward Lord Stafford, And now in the Possession of Gustavus Brander, Esq. Illustrated with NOTES, And a copious INDEX, or GLOSSARY. A MANUSCRIPT of the EDITOR, of the same Age and Subject, with other congruous Matters, are Subjoined. "---ingeniosa gula est." MARTIAL LONDON PRINTED BY J. NICHOLS, PRINTER TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. M DCC LXXX.
FIRST EDITION - 1st ISSUE. 1780. InSide the green cover, bookplate of Crosby Giage. 1fep. [1] On verso the Frontispiece with a nice ornate illustration of Samuel Pegge. [1] iii-iv dedication from Brander to Pegge. i - xxx Preface. [1] 1page facsimile of the manuscript. xxxi - xxxvi. 1-161 The Forme of Cury. 162 Addenda. 163-164 Advertisement. 163-188 Rolls of Provisions. 2feps. Quarter red red leather with red marbled boards. Spine with gilt lines on raised bands. Gilt title and date. Internally test block and pages in fine clean condition.
- The Forme of Cury (The Method of Cooking) is an extensive collection of medieval English recipes from the 14th century. Originally in the form of a scroll, compiled and listed as "the chief Master Cooks of King Richard II". It is among the oldest English cookery texts, and the first to mention olive oil, gourds, and spices such as mace and cloves. The scroll was written in late Middle English (c. 1390) on vellum and contains about 200 recipes (although the exact number of recipes varies slightly between different versions) with many of the same recipes as 'Ancient Cookery' (Latin: Diuersa seruicia). 'The Forme of Cury' may have been written partly to compete with 'Le Viandier' of Taillevent, a French cookbook created around the same time. This supports the idea that banquets were a symbol of power and prestige for medieval lords and kings. The name, 'The Forme of Cury' was given by Samuel Pegge, who published this edition of the manuscript in 1780 for the curator of the British Museum, Gustavus Brander. The title has come to be used for almost all versions, although they differ from each other. It is one of the best-known medieval guides to cooking. The Forme of Cury’ is the first English text to mention olive oil, cloves, mace and gourds in relation to British food. Most of the recipes contain what were then luxurious and valuable spices: caraway, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and pepper. There are also recipes for cooking strange and exotic animals, such as whales, cranes, curlews, herons, seals and porpoises. Some of the food and spices could have only come to England through trade from Muslim lands. In 2009 another variant of 'The Forme of Cury' from about the same time, but in codex form, was discovered in the John Rylands Library at Manchester University. Samuel Pegge the elder, born 5 November 1704, was an English antiquary and clergyman. Besides the 'Forme of Cury' he wrote seven memoirs in the Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, including The Story of Guy, Earl of Warwick (1783); The History of Eccleshall Manor (1784); The Roman Roads of Derbyshire (1784);[4] The Textus Roffensis (1784) ; History of Bolsover and Peak Castles, Derbyshire (1783). He also wrote a large number of articles for the Gentleman's Magazine from 1746 to 1795, He died, after a fortnight's illness, on 14 February 1796 at age 92. He was buried in the chancel at Whittington, where a mural tablet was installed.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11250

Dallas Enaeas Sweetlands Once owned and signed by G.A. Sala. [image below]
KETTNER'S BOOK OF THE TABLE.
KETTNER'S BOOK OF THE TABLE. A MANUAL OF COOKERY. PRCTICAL - THEORETICAL - HISTORICAL. Written in George Augustus Sala's small neat hand - "The literary and critical portion of this book was written by my very dear friend Enaeas S. Dallas, sometime of the " Times" Newspaper and Editor of "Once a Week". A poem form Paradise Regained. Somewhat obscured by stencilled holes of the FORBES LIBRARY. NORTHAMPTON. MASS. LONDON. DULAU AND CO. SOHO SQUARE.1877. A poem form Paradise Regained. Somewhat obscured by stencilled holes of the FORBES LIBRARY. NORTHAMPTON. MASS. LONDON. DULAU AND CO. SOHO SQUARE.1877.
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION. Marbled end-papers with Forbes Library bookplate. On verso -1 fep. 1p Half-title - THE BOOK OF THE TABLE and an inscription in Sala's neat hand - George Augustus Sala, 46 Mecklenburg Sq. W.C. 1878. On verso a two-line poem from Paradise Regained. Title Page. [1]. 1p dedication to GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. [1]. 1-16 Introduction. 1p Half-title - THE BOOK OF THE TABLE. [1]. 19-500. 4 blanks for Notes. 1fep. Marbled end papers, Old red marbled boards with red leather quarter binding and tips, all with gilt lines. Red leather spine compartmentalised with dull gilt tooling. Internally a little brown aged but overall very clean. Also enclosed: 1p. 7x4.5 inches with minor creases. From the Reform Club 24th January - no year given. An autograph letter signed: "G.A. Sala to G.Linnaeus Banks, sending 'a doz. stamps for Shakespeare heads" and mentioning the Shakespeare committee business" Internally a little brown aged but overall very clean. Also attached: 1p. 7x 4.5 inches with minor creases. From the Reform Club 24th January - no year given. An autograph letter signed: "G.A. Sala to G.Linnaeus Banks, sending 'a doz. stamps for Shakespeare heads" and mentioning the Shakespeare committee business"
- Kettner’s was one of the first and oldest French restaurants in London. Opened in Romilly Street in Soho 1867 by August Kettner, known as a very fastidious chef to Napoleon III. English aristocracy in waistcoats, and in love, would bring their wives and their mistresses to try Kettner's French cuisine for the first time – feasts of carp fillets à la Duxelle, fried Gudgeon with asparagus in cream, devilled Kidney and thick Eel stews, all followed by Apple and Almond tarts for dessert. Ever popular with historical figures throughout its gilded history. King Edward VII is said to have courted his mistress, actress Lillie Langtry, there. They say that the philandering King had a secret underground passageway built between the restaurant and the Palace Theatre next door, so that his mistress could slip away after performances for an intermission of supper downstairs and a final act in the private rooms upstairs. The lounge and Champagne Bar have welcomed visitors including Oscar Wilde wining and dining the rent boy Charles Parker, Agatha Christie tucking into a bouillabaisse, Sir Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Bing Crosby among others. Kettner’s wasn’t just part of Soho, it was Soho. It was the sordidness and the sobriety. Rising up around the restaurant over generations, Soho was built and re-built to be London’s den of iniquity. Today, a more discreet and gentile Kettner’s comprises seven Georgian townhouses, including the Grade II-listed club space and two bars, all carefully restored with close attention to original features and details. On the three top floors are 33 bedrooms and the Grade II-listed Jacobean Suite, with its own private entrance. The Kettner’s well known art collection is inspired by the buildings’ former risqué reputation. Now, as is the way of the world, the restaurant is re-branded, re-born. The continuation of the Kettner name may serve only as a wink to the past and a nod to the future, in the sober but still vibrant district of Soho. E.S. Dallas [Enaeas Sweetland Dallas] was the author of Kettners 'Book of the Table' and was a very good friend of Sala's. G.A. Sala, born in London, tried his hand at writing, at a very early date and in 1851 attracted the attention of Charles Dickens, who published articles and stories by him in Household Words and subsequently in All the Year Round, and in 1856 sent him to Russia as a special correspondent. In 1860, over his own initials "G.A.S.", he began writing "Echoes of the Week" for the Illustrated London News, and continued to do so till 1886, when they were continued in a syndicate of weekly newspapers almost to his death. William Makepeace Thackeray, when editor of the Cornhill, published articles by him on Hogarth in 1860, which were issued in column form in 1866; and in the former year he was given the editorship of Temple Bar, which he held till 1863. Meanwhile, he had become in 1857 a contributor to The Daily Telegraph, and it was in this capacity that he did his most characteristic work, whether as a foreign correspondent in all parts of the world, or as a writer of "leaders" or special articles. His literary style, highly coloured, bombastic, egotistical and full of turgid periphrasis, gradually became associated by the public with their conception of the Daily Telegraph; and though the butt of the more scholarly literary world, his articles were invariably full of interesting matter and helped to make the reputation of the paper. Sala died at Brighton on 8th December, 1895. In an email I received from Linda Gifkins, she kindly informed me of a hitherto unknown edition of Sala's quite rare book 'The Thorough Good Cook', printed by Brentano's - New York, Chicago, Paris, & Washington in 1896. Sala was twice married. His first wife, Harriet, whom he married in September 1859, died at Melbourne in December 1885. In 1891 he married a second wife, Bessie, third daughter of Robert Stannard, C.E., who survived him.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11251