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Blumenthal Heston - A signed copy.
The Big Fat Duck Cookbook
Heston Blumenthal BLOOMSBURY
FIRST EDITION. 2008. Large thick folio. 340x295mm. Paste-down and end-paper marbled. [1] 1p with Egg device and with his quite unique signature and 2 signed copies of 'Table d' Hote' menus -- See jpegs # 5 below. Frontis & Title page all one image. 4p Artwork. 8-11 Forward by Harold McGee. 2p Artwork. 2p History. [1] 17-516. 517-526 Index. 527-528 Acknowledgements. 529 Credits. [3] Rear end-paper, both sides and paste-down marbled. Fully bound in dark grey cloth with silver gilt devices on both covers and writing on the spine. All paper edges deep silver gilt. Slip case covered exactly the same as the book. With four brightly coloured page saving ribbons. Many full page colour photographs, artwork and illustrations throughout. Also comes with the original brown cardboard shipping box, which is covered in Fat Duck logo artwork. All in mint condition, as new.
- Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck Restaurant in Bray, Berkshire has been described as a culinary alchemist for his innovative style of cuisine. Besides being a highly accomplished chef a large part of his work entails researching the structures and molecular compounds of foods and dishes so to enable a greater understanding of taste and flavour. This original and scientific approach has teamed him with fellow chefs, scientists and psychologists throughout the world. His restaurant, The Fat Duck, opened in 1995 and was awarded its third Michelin star in January 2004. Other significant awards, among many, are; Gault Millau, 19/20 rating, January 2005; Chef of the Year Catering & Hotelkeeper Magazine, Catey Awards 2004; Good Food Guide accreditation 10/10, and best Restaurant in the UK, 2008; Second Best Restaurant In The World awarded by the Restaurant Magazines International Academy 50 Best Restaurants in the World Awards 2008; In July 2006 Blumenthal was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by The University of Reading for his dedicated research and commitment to the exploration of culinary science. Jay Rayner of The Observer. writes in 2008 about the The Big Fat Duck Cookbook --- "What Blumenthal has produced is, in truth, three books in one. At the front is the autobiography, beautifully and wittily illustrated by Dave McKean, who has reinvented the man as the fictional hero of his own narrative, all domed forehead, questing chin and razor-sharp glasses. That said, this is not some grimly narcissistic sleb memoir. If there is an anecdote here, it is because of the part it played in Blumenthal's development as a chef. Next comes the complete Fat Duck recipes, with the glossiest and filthiest of gastro-porn photography. (Who knew the whipping of a pink spiced pickling foam could look so, well, gynaecological?) These recipes are staggeringly long, involve fiendishly expensive pieces of equipment, are extraordinarily detailed and are probably, for the home cook, completely unmanageable, but that's to miss the point. As Blumenthal himself says: 'To change any part of these recipes so that they are more easily achievable would be to compromise - something this book does not do.' Even so, they are worth reading, partly because there are sub-recipes that are within reach (try the gratin of truffled macaroni), partly to appreciate the remarkable effort required to achieve the effect, and partly because it's fun to spot unlikely ingredients. Sure, there are references to substances from the industrial food world like the emulsifier lecithin and the protein 'glue' transglutaminase (oh, the things you can do to mackerel fillets with that). But there are also walk-on parts for frozen peas, mass-produced white bread and Marmite. Blumenthal is big on the flavours of our childhood, the easiest way to open the door to our memories, and he is not afraid to investigate the emotional punch of that nostalgia through his tasting menu. Finally there is the science stuff, a set of explanations so complete and detailed they've had to drop the type size to get it all in. And that, finally, is the point of this book: nothing has been left out; it is all here. It is true that a lot of enthusiastic home cooks will receive this as a gift this Christmas, pore over the pictures, read the text and never once cook from it. But a lot of professional chefs will also buy it, study and examine the text and recipes and let that shape their own cooking. Those wrong-headed, appetite-challenged killjoys who are suspicious of what Blumenthal does will regard this as an unfortunate development. As for me, I can only see it as a very good thing indeed". --- After all Jay Rayner has written this is a thoughfully constructed, original and very unusual but beautiful book, that won for Blumenthal, the Food Book of the Year Award at The Guild of Food Writers Awards, 2009. One assumes it will be a classic in future cookery book collections, if not already.

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Modern category

ref number: 11052

Careme. Marie Antonin
Le Cuisinier Parisien
OU L'ART DE LA CUISINE FRANCAISE AU DIX-NEUVIEME SIECLE, TRAITE ELEMENTAIRE ET PRATIQUE DES ENTREES FROIDES, DES SOCLES, ET DE L'ENTREMENTS DE SUCRE; SUIVI D'OBSERVATIONS UTILES AUX PROGRESDE CES PARTIES DE LA CUISINE MODERNE; Par Antonin CAREME, Auteur du Patissier royal parisien, - Patissier pittoresque, - du Maitre-d Hotel fraincaise, et de l'Art de la Cuisine francaise au xixe siecle. NOUVELLE EDITION. REVUE ET AUGMENTEE. OUVERAGE ORNE DE 25 PLANCHES DESSINEES PAR L'AUTEUR ET GRAVES AU TRAIT. PARIS. AU DEPOT DE LIBRAIRE, RUE DES MOULINS, 8, PRES DE LA RUE THERESE, 44. 1854.
154x235mm.1 fep + 1fep with the original outer paper cover tipped in. Half Title with Careme's facsimile signature. [1] Title Page. [1] 2p Eulogy de M. Laguipiere. (1)viii-xvi Notice per M. Jules Janin. (1)2-3 Avant Propos. [1] (1)6-25 Discours Preliminaire. [1] (1)28-396. (1)398-408. 2feps. 24 engraved folding plates numbered 2-25. (the title page is number 1). Internally lightly browned and water-stained throughout. Pages with wide un-trimmed margins. Edges are brittle. Modern half calf with marbled boards and calf corners.Spine with raised bands and gilt lines. two black morocco labels with gilt lettering.
- Bitting p25 informs, M. Laguipiere of whom Careme writes a brief eulogy, was one of the cooks attached to the army during the campaign of 1812. The first edition was published - 1828, 2nd 1828, 3rd 1842. Cagle p95-96 cites the 2nd and 3rd editions. Neither Bitting, Vicaire nor Cagle have this new edition of 1854. One of the scarcer editions of Careme's books.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11057

Eaton. Mrs. Mary
THE COOK AND HOUSEKEEPER'S
COMPLETE AND UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY; INCLUDING A SYSTEM OF MODERN COOKERY, IN ALL ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, ADAPTED TO THE USE OF PRIVATE FAMILIES: ALSO A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL AND VALUABLE INFORMATION, RELATIVE TO BAKING, BREWING, CARVING,COLLARING, CURING, ECONOMY OF BEES, ----- (ECONOMY) OF A DAIRY, ECONOMY OF POULTRY, FAMILY MEDICINE, GARDENING, HOME-MADE WINES, PICKLING, POTTING, PRESERVING, RULES OF HEALTH, AND EVERY OTHER SUBJECT CONNECTED WITH DOMESTIC COOKERY. BY Mrs. MARY EATON. EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS. BUNGAY: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. AND R. CHILDS. 1823.
FIRST EDITION 1923. 8VO. 2fep. Half Title. [2] Frontispiece of Mrs Eaton. First engraved title page with 1/2" torn of the top of page (without loss of text) [1] Second Title page. [1] (1)vi-xxxii Introduction. 1-495. [1] 2feps. Full modern dark brown calf with raised bands and gilt box and gilt writing in one compartment. With slight age browning to Frontis. Overall a very nice copy.
- Mrs Eaton appears to be a very confident woman. She states in her introduction; --- "A great number of outlandish articles are intentionally omitted, as well as a farrago of French trifles and French nonsense, in order to render the work truly worthy of the patronage of the genuine English housekeeper. It may also fairly be presumed, that the superior advantages of the present work will immediately be recognized, not only as comprehending at once the whole theory of Domestic Management, but in a form never before attempted, and which of all others is best adapted to facilitate the acquisition of useful knowledge". --- The unique, beautifully engraved title page gives a date of 1822, but clearly the publication was delayed until the next year as the normal printed second title page bears the date 1823. Cagle surmises that the work may have been published in parts which would explain the discrepancy in dates based on the labeling of the signatures, but this is not proven. Oxford is the only bibliographer to mention another edition of 1849, and the compiler is also aware of an 1833 edition. Simon BG 542; Bitting p.139; Oxford, p.152; Cagle 661.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11073

MASSIALOT. FRANCOIS - With the bookplate of Anton Mosimann
NOUVELLE INSTRUCTION POUR LES CONFITURES,
LES LIQUEURS, ET LES FRUITS; Ou l’on apprend a’ confire toutes; sortes de Fruits, tant secs que liquides; & divers ouvrages de Sucre qui sont du fait des Officiers & Confiseurs; avec la maniere de bien ordonner un Fruit. Suit du Nouveau Cuisinier Royal & Bourgeois, egalement utile aux Maitres d’Hotels & dans les Familles, pour scavoir ce qu’on sert de plus a’la mode dans les Repas. NOUVELLE EDITION. Revue, corrigee, & beaucoup augmentee, Avec de nouveaux Desseins de Tables. (Printer’s device) Du Fonds de Cl. Prudhomme. A PARIS, AUPALAIS, Chez SAUGRAIN Fils, Grand’ Salle, du cote’ de la Cour des Aydes, a’la Providence. M.DCC.XL. AVEC PRIVILEGE DU ROY. (With some Ms. writing not affecting the printed text).
12mo. Marbled paste-down and end-paper. [1] 1fep. Title page. [1] 6pp Preface. 4pp Table des Chapitures. 4pp Approbation. (1)2-518. 36pp Table des Matieres. 6pp Catalogue des Livres. Fep possibly lacking. Marbled paste-down and end-paper. With two folding plates of table settings with sweets displayed. Contemporary full dark brown speckled calf with raised bands and elaborate French gilt tooling in the compartments. With a black label with gilt border and writing. The corners of the boards slightly rubbed. With a nice patina. Internally very clean. A nice copy.
- François Massialot, born in Limoges, 1660, died in Paris, 1733. He was a French chef who served as chef de cuisine (officier de bouche) to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, and his son Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was first duc de Chartres then the Regent, as well as the duc d'Aumont, the Cardinal d’Estrées, and the marquis de Louvois. His ‘Nouveau Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois’ first appeared, anonymously, as a single volume in 1691. His other cookbook, ‘Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs et les Fruits’ appeared, also anonymously, in 1692, and reprinted several times in the eighteenth century. Massialot describes himself in his preface as "a cook who dares to qualify himself royal",... and it is not without cause, for the meals which he describes..."have all been served at court or in the houses of princes, and of people of the first rank." An innovation in Massialot's book was the alphabetical listing of recipes, a step toward the first culinary dictionary. Meringues make their first appearance under their familiar name with Massialot, who is also credited with Crême Brulée, in which the sugar topping was melted and burnt with a special dedicated red-hot fire iron. Another first with Massialot is two recipes in which chocolate is an ingredient: in a sauce for wigeon and in a sweet custard. Until then, chocolate was consumed solely as a drink. Massialot's works were translated into English as ‘The Court and Country Cook' 1702, and were often reprinted.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11103

ANON. - A rare dinner invitation to the London Tavern, Bishopsgate St. 1857.
LINEN DRAPERS SILK MERCHANTS
LACEMENS' HABERDASHERS' AND HOSIERS' INSTITUTION. THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DINNER, AT THE London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, on Tuesday, February 24th, 1857. SIR JOHN VILLIERS SHELLEY, BART., M.P., IN THE CHAIR. STEWARDS: Mr. FREDRK. ARMFIELD - Mr. JOHN ALLAN - Mr. JOHN FIVEASH - Mr. JOHN GEB - Mr. JOHN JARVIS - Mr. ROBERT MINTON - Mr. OSBORN - Mr. THOS. RUSSELL - Mr. W. RUTTY - Mr. J. RABBIDGE - Mr. JAMES ROBBINS - Mr. JOHN SCOTT - Mr. G.F. WALLIS. The Musical Arrangements under the management of Mr. Lawler, assisted by Miss Poole, Miss B. Palmer, and others. This Ticket will admit Mr. ------------ Dinner on Table at Six o'Clock, exact time. --TICKETS, including Wine, ONe Guinea. NO. 435. GEORGE BRACE, Secretary, 24, Surry Street, Strand. Tickets not returned to the secretary on or before the 20th of February, to be paid for.
115x150mm. Cream coloured card with black, red and green coloured text. Nice clean condition.
- Bishopsgate Street was anciently divided into Bishopsgate Street Within (i.e. within the walls of London) and Bishopsgate Street Without, and derives its name after one of the original seven gates in London Wall. The foundation of the original gate is attributed to Erkenwald, elected Bishop of London in 675. Henry III granted the gate (which would have contained buildings above and beside it) to the Hanse merchants, who substantially rebuilt the gate in 1479: the gate was adorned with statues of past bishops of London. It was declared an obstruction to traffic in the eighteenth century and subsequently demolished. Bishopsgate Street Within contained three churches, St Martin Outreach, St Ethelburga, and St Helen, and the famous Crosby Hall as well as the London Tavern, used for many public meetings, banquets and dinners. Bishopsgate Street Without was wider and longer than Within, and during medieval times many pleasure gardens and bowling alleys ran off it. Throughout most of its history Bishopsgate Street has been one of the City's main commercial streets, and has housed many fine mansions of the nobility, of whom many were entertained by the plays performed at the Bull Inn, a famous playhouse of Elizabethan times. Afterward they would have dined at the nearby London Tavern, one of the best known and most prestigious city venues. See print #2 below for an image of a small salon inside the London Tavern.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11105

Royal Menu - From Osborne House.
Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Dinner
Dated Monday August 29th, 1900.
225 x 140mm. Thick cardboard. Handwritten in ink in a neat script. The menu and the border are very bright. The edges are rubbed and slightly spotted and browned. Overall slightly age browned. Housed in a marbled cardboard folder with a label on the front cover. Overall a very nice item of very rare Royal ephemera. Queen Victoria died on January 21st 1901. Her Majesty had this dinner 5 months before.
- Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight. The house and its 800 hectare estate was bought from Lady Isabella Blachford in 1845, demolished, and a new house built by 1851 as a summer retreat for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Prince Albert designed the house himself in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo. The builder was Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company built the main façade of Buckingham Palace for the royal couple in 1847. At Osborne an earlier smaller house on the site was demolished to make way for the new and far larger house. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House in January of 1901. Following her death, the house became surplus to royal requirements and was given to the state with a few rooms retained as a private royal museum dedicated to Queen Victoria. From 1903 until 1921 it was used as a junior officer training college for the Royal Navy known as the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Today it is fully open to the public. The house consisted of the original square wing known as 'The Pavilion', which contained the principal and royal apartments. The apartments contain reminders of Victoria's dynastic links with the other European royal families. The Billiard Room houses a massive porcelain vase, which was a gift of the Russian Tsar. The grandeur of the Billiard Room, the Queen's Dining Room and the Drawing Room on the ground floor forms a marked contrast with the much more homely and unassuming decor of the royal apartments on the first floor. These rooms contain the Prince's Dressing Room, the Queen's Sitting Room, the Queen's Bedroom and the children's nurseries, which were intended for private domestic use, and were therefore arranged to be as comfortable as possible. Both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined to bring up their children in as natural and loving environment as their situation allowed so that as a consequence the royal children visited their parents' bedrooms when other children of a similar status lived in a far more detached manner. The 'main wing', containing the household accommodation, council and audience chambers were added later. The final addition to the house was a wing built between 1890 and 1891. It contains on the ground floor the famous Durbar Room which is named after an anglicised version of the Hindi word darbar. This word means court. The Durbar Room was built for state functions and decorated by Bhai Ram Singh in an elaborate and intricate style, with a carpet from Agra. It now contains the gifts Queen Victoria received on her Golden and Diamond Jubilees. These include engraved silver and copper vases, Indian armour and even a model of an Indian palace. The Indian associations of Osborne House also include a collection of paintings of Indian persons and scenes, painted at Queen Victoria's request by Rudolf Swoboda. There are both depictions of Indians resident or visiting Britain in the 19th Century and scenes painted in India itself when the painter went there for the purpose. The first floor of the new wing was for the sole use of Princess Beatrice and her family. Beatrice was the Queen's youngest daughter, who remained permanently at her side. The royal family stayed at Osborne for lengthy periods each year: in the spring for Victoria's birthday in May; in July and August when they celebrated Albert's birthday; and just before Christmas. In a break from the past, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert allowed photographers and painters to capture their family in the grounds and in the house, partly for their own enjoyment and partly as a form of propaganda for the nation to show what a happy and devoted family they were. Many thousands of prints of the royal family were sold to the public which led Victoria to remark, "no Sovereign was ever more loved than I am, I am bold enough to say." Writing to her daughter Victoria in 1858 about the gloominess of Windsor Castle, Queen Victoria stated, "I long for our cheerful and un-palace-like rooms at Osborne." The domestic idyll at Osborne was not to continue. In December 1861, Prince Albert died at Windsor Castle. During her widowhood, Osborne House continued as one of Queen Victoria's favourite homes. Today, Osborne House is under the care of English Heritage and is open to the public from spring through to autumn. The former Naval College's cricket pavilion was converted into a holiday cottage in 2004 and can be booked by members of the public. Guests staying at the cottage are given the right to use the Osborne Estate's private beach. Photographs 4 and 5 below show Osborne House as it is today. Photograph number 6 is a print of a painting in 1870 by Sir Edwin Landseer, of Queen Victoria and John Brown at Osborne. In it the Queen sits grandly on her horse while perusing state documents. On the ground are discarded documents and the Queen's gloves beside the red dispatch box. John Brown deigns not to pick them up, instead he rigidly guards the Queen's security and safety by not letting go of the horses reins. By the horse we see an amusing vignette of a small black scotch terrier on hind legs with paws together in a frozen pose of absolute devotion. The elaborate and decorous menu on offer here also gives a glimpse of the ultimate privilege of the Queen's household.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11141

Soyer. Alexis Benoit - A very rare signed first edition.
The Gastronomic Regenerator.
A SIMPLIFIED AND ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEM OF COOKERY, WITH NEARLY TWO THOUSAND PRACTICAL RECEIPTS SUITED TO THE INCOME OF ALL CLASSES. ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND CORRECT AND MINUTE PLANS HOW KITCHENS OF EVERY SIZE, FORM THE KITCHEN OF A ROYAL PALACE TO THAT OF THE HUMBLE COTTAGE, ARE TO EB CONSTRUCTED AND FURNISHED. BY MONSIEUR A. SOYER, OF THE REFORM CLUB. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT: AND SOLD BY JOHN OLLIVIER, PALL-MALL. 1846.
FIRST EDITION. 233x153x64mm. Front paste-down with the bookplate of Bannerman of Elsick – Crimonmogate (one of the oldest Scottish families from Buchan). 1 new fep . Signed on the original yellow end-paper, laid down and bound in: 'To Mrs S.G. Harding with the Auteur Compliments A. Soyer'. [1] Verso frontispiece portrait of the author drawn by his wife Emma Soyer and engraved in steel by H.B. Hall. Title page. [1] 1p Dedication to the Duke of Cambridge. [1] 1p Engraved plate. [1]2p List of Patrons. (1)viii Preface. (1)x-xii Description of the work. (1)xiv-xx Soyer’s new mode of carving. xxi-xxiv How everything should be in cooking. 1-720.3 [1] (1)2-18 Table of contents. (1)2-6 Madame Soyer including a self-portrait of Emma Soyer engraved in steel by H.B.Steel. In total there are 16 wood engraved plates. Also included, the Kitchen of the Reform Club, a table of a wealthy family, Soyer’s table at home. Folded plates of ‘Young Bavarians’ by Emma Soyer, a dinner for His Highness Ibrahim Pacha on blue paper and an engraving of the Reform Club's new kitchens. Fully bound in the original rose coloured cloth with fine blind tooling back and front. The spine has been very sympathetically re-laid. Gilt lettering on the front board and spine. There is a small 1” long ink stain. The frontis of Soyer and Emma Soyer plates are slightly foxed. Otherwise internally very clean. Overall a very good copy in the original state and with the rare signature.
- In an online article Michael Garval, North Carolina State University writes perceptively of Alexis Soyer: --- Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the extraordinary Alexis Soyer is that, while he too fashioned himself a man of letters, he would also transcend the constraints of this literary model and, far ahead of his time, prefigure the flamboyant personas of today's celebrity chefs. Soyer was born in France and raised there, first in Meaux-en-Brie, then in Paris. During the Revolution of 1830, he was working in the kitchen at the Foreign Office, it was attacked by angry insurgents. He ended up singing for his life: The cooks were driven from the palace, and in the flight two of Soyer's confrères were shot before his eyes, and he himself only escaped through his presence of mind, in beginning to sing 'la Marseillaise' et 'la Parisienne;' when he was in consequence carried off amid the cheers of the mob. (The memoirs of Volant and Warren - Soyer’s secretaries.) Soyer soon fled to England, where he would make his reputation, notably as Chef de Cuisine of London's prestigious Reform Club from 1837 to 1850. But his close call during the July Revolution remains an oddly revealing point of departure for his later, successful career. Casting him in the suggestive role of the faux-revolutionary, it already offers a glimpse at his general propensity for theatrics; his talent for rallying the public, and for making the most of unlikely opportunities; as well as his ambivalent class status and loyalty. A modestly-born opportunist, slaving away in service to the upper crust, and belting out Rouget de Lisle's or Casimir Delavigne's rabble-rousing lyrics at gunpoint, he appears at once a man of the people and lackey of the elite. Soyer was, in so many ways, a study in contradictions, "who drew the breath of his being from the French Romantics and who won the respect of Victorian England for his practical resourcefulness and powers of administration" (Helen Morris). He served refined food to the rich and powerful, and strained to ingratiate himself to them as well. But, amid the social and intellectual ferment over the problem of poverty, in the years surrounding the Revolution of 1848, he also put his skills to more humanitarian and egalitarian use. He toiled to feed Ireland's poor in the 1840s, or starving British soldiers in the Crimea a decade later, and published invaluable information to help the needy better feed themselves: first in a booklet, ‘The Poor Man's Regenerator’ (1847), from each copy of which he gave a penny to the poor; then more extensively in his ‘Shilling Cookery for the People’ (1854). A versatile, compassionate, and inventive cook, he was a prolific inventor as well—of bottled sauces and drinks, culinary gadgetry of all sorts, numerous innovations in the Reform Club's celebrated new kitchens, and many other things, including an excellent field stove, a variant of which, still called the Soyer stove, was used by the British army through the first Gulf War. Soyer was known for his exuberance, and eccentric style. A wit, prankster, raconteur, fine singer—and not just of revolutionary ballads—his first ambition was to be a comic actor, and for much of his life he frequented theatres and theatrical performers. A dapper Frenchman among drabber Victorians, he dressed as a Romantic dandy, in a style no longer the height of fashion at the height of his career in the 1840s and 50s—and did so even in the kitchen, eschewing the conventional chef's uniform. Beyond their rich embroidery, lavish silks, and extravagant colors, Soyer's clothes were characterized by their insistent cut on a bias, "à la zoug-zoug" in his own coinage, an idiosyncratic rendering of "zig-zag," the English phrase itself taking on the gallic flair of its inventor. Indeed, this predilection for diagonal lines was not limited to clothing designed and worn ‘studiously awry’, but rather part of a broader pattern. As biographer Helen Morris notes -- “Soyer's desire to be noticed, to be admired, above all to be extraordinary, grew ever more dominant. He tried not only to cook differently from everyone else, but to dress and talk and walk differently too. . . . he would not wear a single garment with either horizontal or perpendicular lines. His hats were specially built so that when clapped on at any angle they slanted in a coquettish way—in his own phrase, à la zoug-zoug. His coats had to be cut on the cross . . . . His visiting card . . . was not a rectangle but a parallelogram; so was his cigar-case, and even the handle of his cane slanted obliquely”. To this list could be added many things: advertisements for Soyer's products, like these for his Sultana's Sauce, one with the central bottle tilted diagonally through the copy, the other with the copy inside a parallelogrammic field recalling the shape of his carte de visite; a whimsical dish created in honor of the ballerina Fanny Cerrito with whispy diagonals spiraling round a conical base, surmounted by a dancing figurine on pointe atop a thunderbolt-like stand composed of alternating angles; "a zig-zag passage," which Morris calls a "true Soyer touch" leading into the model soup kitchen that Soyer designed in Dublin; his fanciful menu for a "Grand Supper Lucullusien "a'la Zoug-Zoug" (Volant and Warren); and, as we shall see, numerous diagonal elements in the portraits of Soyer that accompany his published work. As such varied examples suggest, à la zoug-zoug might best be understood as the central trope in Soyer's creative imagination, and in his dandified public persona, emblematic of his drive to distinguish himself —both to achieve distinction, and to do so by being different. • Soyer's position as chef of the Reform Club secured him some prominence but, in itself, does not explain the magnitude of his fame. His constant letters to various London papers, particularly the Times—touting his own accomplishments, promoting his latest schemes, weighing in on the questions of the day—helped keep him in the public eye. So too did the extensive marketing of his products, notably "Soyer's Sauce" as well as his several successful books on food and cookery. Combined with his flamboyant personal style, these forms of exposure made Soyer a favorite target of popular satire which, for better or worse, only increased his renown. He figured more often in the pages of Punch than many a Cabinet Minister.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11155

Nignon. Edouard - In fine original condition.
E. NIGNON ELOGES DE LA CUISINE FRANCAISE
PRESENTATION DE SACHA GUITRY (A small illustration of game, fish, casserole and wine bottle) PARIS L'EDITION D'ART H. PIAZZA 19, RUE BONAPARTE. With an elaborate ornate illustrated blue/green border.
FIRST EDITION 1933. 238 x 190mm. 1fep. Half title. [1] Title page. [1] Pages 1&2 Presentation by Sacha Guitry. Dedication page to Robert de Flers. [1] 1page with large illustration in blue/green. [1] 11-426. 427-441- Index Alphabetique. [1]443-444 Index. Many beautiful illustrations thoughout. 1page Ouverges de Meme Auteur. 2feps. Text block in fine clean condition with many pages uncut. Original complete soft covers. The spine is age browned and the covers slightly less so, but everything as originally issued and clearly legible (See image # 1). A wonderful copy.
- While researching Nignon’s book I came across an article written in the Hotelkeeper & Caterer on 4th May 2004 by Michel Roux, the famous chef & proprietor of the Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire. It explained the book so well that I have copied the article in its entirety…….. “The cookbook I refer to most is 'Eloges de la Cuisine Française' by Edouard Nignon. It was originally published in 1933, but I found my copy quite by chance 35 years ago in a London bookshop. (It seems to be available only at auction now.) I knew about Nignon, of course - that he was one of our great chefs along with Escoffier and Carême, but I hadn't read anything that he'd written. As soon as I picked the book up and flicked through it I was hooked. I could sense the spirit of the man behind it - a man with a great passion for his career. Food for him was a life, a mission. He not only loved cooking, he loved to eat, too. And as well as being a great chef, he worked front-of-house in his own Paris restaurant, Le Restaurant Larue, in the early 20th century. That struck a chord with me, because when Albert and I first opened Le Gavroche in London we used to take it in turns to put on our evening suits and take the orders at the table. Something that made this book special was the fact that it really was ahead of its time. The way Nignon cooked would be totally acceptable today. His recipes show true respect for his produce, and they are light already - not dependent on cream at all. They rely on skill and the quality and taste of produce. This is why I love the book so much. The book is divided into three parts, with two-thirds being recipe-led and the remaining third being about Nignon's life. The first part is broadly on gastronomy, the second part is on the treasures of the kitchen - flavours, the table, etc - and the third part is written around different dinners that Nignon cooked. All the pages of my book are well-thumbed, and I can say absolutely that elements of many of my dishes have been inspired by the recipes and philosophies in it. Nignon passed on such a wealth of knowledge and wrote in such a passionate and inspirational manner - the beauty of a true master. The book is like a companion to me, because I can see part of myself in the book. It is truly inspirational to me - a work of art. Some of my more senior chefs at the Waterside have read this book, but as it is written in French and it is a very advanced book, it would have very little meaning to young chefs who are at the start of their culinary career, I think. It's one for when you are older.”

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Modern category

ref number: 11195

Soyer. Alexis Benoit - Selling his wife's paintings.
A letter handwritten & signed by Soyer.
to an unidentified correspondent, detailing two items in a catalogue of paintings [not present].
2 pages. 8vo. Full cream coloured sheet 228 x 182 mm. Folded 115 x 182 mm. A full sheet folded in half with a slight split at the bottom of the fold. It is in a very clear and legible condition. Dated Nov. 23rd 1857. Soyer writes “Dear Sir I beg to send herewith a calogue of my paintings you will find the Two sent you marked Nos…. & … In centre, or rather between the two you might insert “Youth & Age” & describe them in the usual place viz. At the bottom as per catalogue – I remain Dear Sir Yours faithfully A Soyer.“ Housed in a very fine handmade slip case with a label on the front cover.
- The Wikipedia entry for Emma [Jones] Soyer is worth repeating here, to help put the letter in a context. To quote -- The daughter of a Mr. Jones who died in 1818, she was born in London in 1813, and was carefully instructed in French, Italian, and music. At a very early age she became a pupil of F. Simoneau the painter, who in 1820 married her mother, Mrs. Jones. Finding that Emma had talents for drawing, Simoneau ultimately devoted the whole of his time to her instruction, and before the age of twelve she had drawn more than a hundred portraits from life with surprising fidelity. On 12 April 1837 she married Alexis Soyer the cook. She now turned her attention to portraits in oil, and, with her master, traveled in the provinces and gained great popularity. Upon her return to London she produced 'The Blind Boy,' 'The Crossing Sweeper,' 'The Bavarians,' 'Taglioni and the Kentish Ceres.' In 1842 she completed her last work, 'The Two Organ Boys.' She also showed two paintings at the 1842 Paris Salon ('L'aveugle de la tour de Londres' and 'Portrait de M. Soyer' - Nos. 1729-30). Her portrait famous of Soyer was also engraved by Henry Bryan Hall. On 29–30 Aug. 1842 she had complications with her pregnancy, owing to fright produced by a terrible thunderstorm, and she died the same night at her residence near Charing Cross, London. She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London on 8 September, where her husband erected a sumptuous monument to her memory. Between 1823 and 1843 fourteen of her pictures were exhibited at the Royal Academy, thirty-eight at the British Institution, and fourteen at the Suffolk Street Gallery (Graves, Dictionary of Artists, pp. 130, 221). In June 1848 one hundred and forty of her works were exhibited at the Prince of Wales's bazaar, under the name of Soyer's Philanthropic Gallery, on behalf of the Spitalfields soup kitchen, and a catalogue was printed. Among these pictures was 'The Young Savoyards Resting,' a work that obtained for Madame Soyer the name of the 'English Murillo.' Two of her paintings - 'The Jew Lemon Boys' and 'The English Ceres,' were engraved by Gérard. In Paris, where many of her pictures were exhibited, her reputation stood higher than in her native country - unquote. The paintings to which Alexis Benoist Soyer (4 February 1810 – 5 August 1858) refers to, are most likely those created by his late wife. This letter is written less than 9 months before his death and fifteen years after Emma’s. He must have inherited all of her artistic output and possibly had a catalogue printed to sell them. Indications are that Soyer was not careful with money. This makes sense as he left only £1500 at his death. A rum distiller called David Hart succeeded in taking all the cash and Soyer's personal papers in lieu of an unpaid debt. He destroyed all the papers and notes. Because of that short-sighted and selfish action, any signed or manuscript notes in Soyer's hand are extremely rare. Only rare letters like this one here, owned by a third party are likely to come onto market.

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Ephemera category

ref number: 11234

Gagrine. , Princess Alexandre The 1st English edition in fine condition
The Russian Cook Book.
THE RUSSIAN COOK BOOK COMPILED & TRANSLATED BY Princess Alexandre Gagarine (The printers square lined device) LONDON: William Heinemann Ltd. With a green ornamental border.
FIRST BRITISH EDITION. 1924. 8vo. 1fep. Half Title. Verso publisher's note. Title page. [1] 1p Contents. [1] 1-247. [1] 2fep. Very clean text block. Orange cloth backed blind stamped boards. Gilt lettering on the spine. Original dust jacket very slightly rubbed on the top edge. Overall very clean and well preserved. An extremely scarce book with the fine dust jacket.
- The Russian Cook Book (translated into English by Princess Gagarine) originated in the kitchen of the sumptuous house of Madame Dragomirov, the wife of The Governor General of Kiev which was famed for its cuisine. At the request of her friends, she compiled the collection of her recipes and published it with great success in Russia. It was first published in the West in 1923, in New York by Alfred A. Knopf. Titled the 'The Borzoi Cook Book' it was translated by Princess Alexandre Gagarine. This copy is the first British edition of 1924, published in London by William Heinemann and re-titled 'The Russian Cook Book', also by Princess Alexandre Gagarine. This book of fine food is the product of a very privileged lifestyle and a large household budget. It is a direct result of Madame Draomirov's record of lavish entertaining. There is a recipe for 'Soup Puree of Game' consisting of 3lb Beef and 3 Birds, (either grouse, blackcock or partridges) 3/4 lb of Barley, 1 egg yolk, 1 cup of Cream and butter. Another recipe is for the French Sauce Bernaise served with Beef steaks. Further in the book are recipes for Roasts: Turkey stuffed with Chestnuts. Roast saddle of Roebuck. A roast Bustard along with all manner of game birds. Did the common peasant ever see such spreads in their whole life.? These recipes of all the great Russian dishes are from a time before the revolution of 1917. Princess Alexandre Gagarine the compiler and translator, had fled the revolution to America, but would herself have been a member of that Russian strata of high-level privilege. She did a prudent move by translating Madame Draomirov's successful Russian version of her cookbook. She probably needed the cash. Two very different, but popular cookery books of the time, certainly counterpoint the privileged richness of Gagarine's book. No 1 is 'A Gift to Young Housewives' 1861. A Russian cookbook written and compiled by Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets and usually referred to as "Molokhovets", rather than its long title. It was the most successful book of its kind in the 19th and early 20th-century in Russia. Molokhovets revised the book continually between 1861 and 1917, a period of time falling between the emancipation of the serfs and the Communist Revolution. The book was well known in Russian households during publication and for decades afterwards. It was republished in 2003. The 2nd influential cookery book after the October revolution of 1917 was 'The Book of Healthy and Tasty Food' by Anastas Mikoyan. What Elena Molokhovets is to nineteenth-century culinary history, Anastas Mikoyan, Stalin’s commissar for foreign trade is to the Soviet era. Mikoyan’s project was as welcome to Soviet housewives, to whom it is dedicated, as Molokhovet's book had been to their great-grandmothers. Containing more than 1,400 recipes, it sold more than 8 million copies and has never been out of print since it’s 1952 publication (it was first issued in 1939, but the war hindered further print editions) Many of the recipes in the Book, as it is lovingly referred to, begin with “open a tin of…” reflecting the ubiquity of tinned food, as well as the fact that many Soviet citizens were still in possession of only one burner on a communal apartment stove. Mikoyan's book’s recipes contain ingredients that can be counted on the fingers of one hand and only a few simple steps. It also contains useful information on nutrition, cooking methods, and even the etiquette of setting a proper table, reflecting the post-war trend of returning to family life. Whereas Mikoyan's book is a government sponsored production for the masses, the 416 recipes of great variety in Princess Alexandre Gagarine's cookery book are strongly biased and worded due to the French influence in the Royal Kitchens of St.Petersburg, where great chefs like Careme and Urbain Dubois spent some time. This would have a profound knock-on effect on the kitchens and dining tables of the pre-revolution elite classes, who were strongly influenced by all things Royal. When reading the recipes one thing that surprises, is the amazing and varied abundance available, of the fresh food from water, land and air. A fascinating insight into a cuisine that is not so well known outside of Russia, plus a lifestyle that disappeared for a long time till the growth of new Russian middle and upper classes and the oligarchs, with their wealth, helped to re-establish a similar level of demand and consumption. Indeed, an ironic democratic dynamic.

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Modern category

ref number: 11266