Evelyn.   John     - The first book about Salads
Acetaria
A DISCOURSE OF SALLETS. By J.E. S.R.S. Author of the Kalendarium. [A quotation in Greek from the Greek dramatist, Cratinus] 'It is in every man's power to season well' LONDON, Printed for B. Tooke at the Middle-Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1699.
FIRST EDITION. 1fep. Title Page with double lined border. 20pp.Dedication. 10pp.Preface 6pp.The Plan of a Royal Garden. 1-192. 2pp. 2 Folding Tables between 108-109. The table facing p108 has been neatly repaired on the fold. 35pp.Appendix. 13pp.Table. 1pp.Errata. [1] 1fep. All pages uniformly browned as is usual with this paper. Title page and first page of the dedication backed with clear page tape without visual loss of text. Very nice early full mottled calf binding, raised bands with gilt lines, dark orange label with gilt lettering. With a nice aged patina. Very scarce to rare.
- John Evelyn (1620-1706) was a prolific writer and translator, touching on politics, manners, and religion as well as the more practical arts of architecture, painting and engraving, sculpture, numismatics, and perhaps what he is best known for (besides his diary) gardening and forestry. His most important original contributions are perhaps 'Sylva' which he composed at the behest of the Royal Society in 1664. Acetaria is but a chapter in 'Sylva' subtitled 'A Discourse of Sallets'. Part of Evelyn's literary knowledge of the garden were his translations of the French horticultural manual by Nicolas de Bonnefons and the garden poem (in Latin) by Renatus Rapinaus. Acetaria is certainly full of observations of how the English ways, either in the garden or at table, differed from French, Italian and Spanish - with occasional reference to India, Germany, Holland, Africa and America for good measure. The text also underscores the relative novelty of some aspects of the art of kitchen-gardening in England: we had much to learn by way of cultural techniques from the Dutch and the French, as well as plants that were of recent introduction, for example the Dutch cabbages brought over by Sir Anthony Ashley. His recipes for dressing salads is knowledgeable and interestingly not changed much in UK and Europe. Quite what Evelyn in his time, would have made of the myriad concoctions assembled to dress salads in America, and particularly in health obsessed California, one wonders. Due to the relative preparation of salads, where cooking is at a minimum, this book is quite ageless compared to other cookery books that mirror changing times.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 10946

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

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11000

Escoffier.   Georges Auguste     - In its original bottle with rare Escoffier ephemera.
The Escoffier. Sauce Diable a'la Provencale
Four original items from Escoffier's company; Escoffier Ltd - 1903 and 1907.
ITEM 1. An original bottle of "The Escoffier Sauce Diable a'la Provencale". The sauce is still liquid with trapped air bubbles. It has the original blind-stamped metal cap and labels, all in excellent condition. This is an original bottle with the Escoffier Ltd. Ridgemont address. Later bottles have 'Escoffier' embossed in the glass back and front, as well as other later London addresses on the front label. ITEM 2. A recipe booklet with the original blue covers slightly loose and a small strip missing from the front cover without loss to text.. It has Escoffier's name and the Carlton Hotel' coat of arms' embossed on the front cover. It is titled 'A Few Recipes' and has a title page. p 1 Introduction. p 4-38 Recipes. p 39-42 Cookery and Health tips. p 43 Advertisement for Escoffier Ltd. [1] p 45-46 Advertisement for 'A Guide to Modern Cookery'. [1] p 48-51 Index. [1] Slightly age-browned throughout with a small stain affecting first 2 pages but not the text. ITEM 3. A lovely beautifully produced four page 'Escoffier Ltd' promotional pamphlet and price list for all Escoffier Sauces, and we are also informed the Preparations can be obtained from all high-class Grocers and Stores. ITEM 4. This is a second four page promotional pamphlet and price list titled 'Escoffier (1907) Ltd', in nice clean condition, . As the first pamphlet is elaborately decorated with a coloured image of one of the products and the text in red and black, the second is obviously a cheaper and later price list aimed at cutting costs. Interestingly this later pamphlet informs that the Preparations are stocked by the majority of high-class grocers and stores throughout the United States. All housed in a specially made clam-shell box with half mid-tan calf and brown cloth boards. The spine with raised bands, gilt lines and one red and one green label with gilt lettering. The four items form a unique and rare look at the marketing for Escoffier's famous sauces.
- Georges Auguste Escoffier, who began his career as a chef at age 13 in 1859 and is credited as one of the creators of what is now considered classical French cooking and was far ahead of his time in surprising ways. In 1903, while Chef de Cuisine at the Carlton Hotel in London, he started a company, Escoffier Ltd., to sell his sauces. He was concerned about nutrition and the effects of the pace of modern life on dining; despite his devotion to the good life, he was not fat. He started experimenting with tinned vegetables, notably tomatoes. While still at the Savoy Hotel, London in 1898, he is credited, in their excellent biography of Escoffier by Eugene Herbodeau and Paul Thalamas, of first producing 2000 x 2 kilo tins of tomatoes in Saxon-les-Bains for the Savoy. The fame of the product grew so fast that the following year, the food manufacturer, La Maison Caressa of Nice produced 60.000 kilos under his direction. This was the precursor to his famous sauces being bottled and sold through Escoffier Ltd. In 1915 Escoffier Ltd was sold. (Sadly after 80 years of business deals and corporate takeovers, only a remnant of it lingers on in America in two products, Nabisco Sauces - Diable and Robert). Escoffier supported any effort that made cooking simpler, cleaner, better organized, more widely appreciated or easier for chefs and home cooks alike. Despite the foie gras and truffles, the elaborate garnishes and rich sauces listed in various editions of his cookery book 'Le Guide Culinaire', (1st ed. 1903) Escoffier's work was still a sharp departure from the culinary practices that existed before. Not only did he greatly simplify the recipes and methods of food presentation that had existed previously, but he also re-invented the very manner in which professional kitchens were organized. To speed up service, which was something diners even in his day demanded, he created the brigade system of key specialised departments with teams headed by Chefs de Parties, responsible for all the individual parts of the different dishes presented in all the menus; A'la Carte, Du Jour, Banqueting, Room service, Parties privees etc. He also invented the prix fixe menu. Another poorly recorded, but constant character trait of Escoffier, was the effort he expended to help improve the conditions under which chefs worked. "When I started, chefs had no status in society," he wrote in his memoirs. "That should not be the case because cooking is a science and an art, and the man who works with all his heart to satisfy people deserves to be recognized." The preface to his great classic, 'A Guide to Modern Cookery' - 1907, (the 1st English edition of 'Le Guide Culinaire' of 1903), is a revelation. From a chef’s point of view, the observations that Escoffier espoused then in 1903, and in subsequent editions, ring just as loud today. It is no wonder that modern chefs are re-finding Escoffier. It is also another indicator of his lasting genius and true impact over time. Pierre Escoffier, who was 26 when his grandfather died in 1935, helped create and head the Auguste Escoffier Foundation. The Escoffier Museum is now based near Nice in the village of Villeneuve-Loubet, in the house where Escoffier was born. This item belongs in such a museum. The original sauce in the bottle, the well produced 4 page 'Escoffier Ltd' promotional pamphlet, the other plainer but rarer price list, and the little recipe booklet by Escoffier, give a true insight into Escoffier’s marketing astuteness.

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Information

Ephemera category
ref number: 11051

Beeton.   Isabella Mary     A very scarce 1st Edition - 4th issue.
The Book of Household Management
Comprising information for the MISTRESS, HOUSEKEEPER, COOK, KITCHEN-MAID, BUTLER, FOOTMAN, COACHMAN, VALET, UPPER AND UNDER HOUSE-MAIDS, LADY'S MAID, MAID-OF-ALL-WORK, LAUNDRY-MAID, NURSE AND NURSE-MAID, MONTHLY, WET AND SICK NURSES, ETC.ETC. ALSO SANITARY, MEDICAL AND LEGAL MEMORANDA; WITH A HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN, PROPERTIES, AND USES OF ALL THINGS CONNECTED WITH HOME LIFE AND COMFORT. BY MRS ISABELLA BEETON. "Nothing lovelier can be found in woman, than to study household good".-Milton. Sixty-Fifth Thousand. LONDON: S.O. BEETON, 248, STRAND, W.C. 1864.
FIRST EDITION, Fourth Issue. Thick 8vo. 1fep. [1] Frontispiece (The plate that sits between p112-113 in the other first editions). Title Page. [1] [iv-iv] [1] [vi-xxxix] including the Preface to the first edition, the General Contents and the Analytical Index. [1] 2-1112. 1fep. Surprisingly bound in the original manner of the first edition-first issue with the original navy blue cloth with 1/4 navy blue calf. Gilt stamped on the front cover and gilt writing on the spine with original blind tooling. The spine has been sometime expertly re-laid without loss. Also the book is slightly thicker than the previous three issues of the 1st edition due to a thicker paper being used. Very clean internally. A nice copy of the very scarce, dated, fourth edition, usually found incomplete.
- There is almost no difference in the text, page by page, recipe by recipe in the collation of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd issues of the first editions except the Errata on p.vi is not present in this issue, but is on the preceding three issues. Another small difference is item nos. 2745 and 2751 of the Legal Memorandam of the 1st and 2nd issues are different in the 3rd and 4th issues. The other difference is the plates in this issue have the same content as the other preceding two first issues but have a different floral border and are of a higher quality. Isabella Beeton who had sound business acumen issued the 3rd and 4th editions using the leftovers from the first two issues. This explains why there is no unique frontispieces from the 1st and 2nd issues present here, but rather has the plate from p113 instead, even though the list of Coloured Plates on p.xxxix states the plate should face p.113. One assumes Isabella and Samuel ran out of plates completely, as this is the last one of the four first issues with the original plates, before publication of the new and very different ones of the revised and corrected second edition of 1869. This is a unique book and is the last edition Isabella Beeton would issue before her untimely death on February 5th, 1865.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11067

Brillat-Savarin.   Jean Anthelme     - An important edition illustrated by Bertall.
Physiologie du Gout
PAR BRILLAT SAVARIN, ILLUSTREE Par BERTALL PRECEDE D'UNE NOTICE BIOGRAPHIQUE Par ALPH. KARR.Dessins a part du texte, graves sur acier par Ch. Geoffroy, Gravures sur bois, intercalees dans le texte, par Midderigh. GABRIEL DE GONET, EDITEUR. RUE DES BEAUX-ARTS, 6.
238X160mm. Marbled paste-down and end-paper. 1fep. [1] Frontispiece titled 'Les Sens' (jpeg #3 below). Title page. [1] (1)ii-vii. [2] Engraved portrait of Brillat-Savarin. (1)x Aphorismes. (1)xii-xiv Dialogue. (1)xx-xxiii Preface.[1] (1)2-412. (1)414-416 Table des Mariers. 1fep. [1] Marbled Paste-down and end-paper. With 8 full page, highly amusing steel engraved plates of various culinary scenes, on India paper and many in-text illustrated vignettes. There is minor foxing throughout the text block. Contemporary binding by Barker's of Dercas Terrace, Hammersmith. Quarter brown calf with brown cloth boards and calf tips. Calf edges with gilt lines. Spine with raised bands and all compartments with French style gilt tooling and a red label with gilt lettering. All edges marbled. Overall the binding is solid and in good condition.
- Charles Albert Constant Nicolas Arnoux Limoges Saint-Saens, alias: Bertall, was born 18 December 1820 at Paris and died on 24 March 1882. An illustrator , cartoonist and writer, he is known for being one of the most prolific illustrators of the nineteenth century and one of the pioneers of photography . Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin born on April 1755, Belley, Ain, died 2nd February 1826, Paris. He was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome: Grimod and Brillat-Savarin between them were the two writers who effectively founded the whole genre of the gastronomic essay. His famous work, ‘Physiologie du gout’ (The Physiology of Taste) , was published in December 1825, two months before his death. The full title is ‘Physiologie du Goût, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante; ouvrage théorique, historique et à l'ordre du jour, dédié aux Gastronomes parisiens, par un Professeur, membre de plusieurs sociétés littéraires et savante’. This great classic of Gastronomy is a witty and authoritative compendium on the art of dining that has never been out of print since it was first published. This 1848 copy, illustrated by Bertall is considered a very important version. The philosophy of Epicurus lies behind every page. The body of the work, though often wordy and sometimes aphoristic and axiomatic, has remained extremely important and sought after. It has often been analyzed and quoted through the years since his death. In a series of meditations that have the rhythm of a different age, of leisured reading and a confident pursuit of educated pleasures, Brillat-Savarin discourses and writes on the pleasures of the table, which he considers a science. His French models were the stylists of the Ancien Régime: Voltaire, Rousseau, Buffon and d'Aguesseau et al. Aside from Latin, he was well versed in five modern languages, and when the occasion suited, wasn't shy of parading them: he never hesitated to borrow a word when French failed him, like the English word 'sip', until he rediscovered the then obsolete verb 'siroter'. The simplest meal satisfied Brillat-Savarin, as long as it was executed with skill and artistry, which is further elaborated in one of his famous aphorisms: Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the true principles of eating and drinking

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11169

Lemery.   M. Louis     The very rare first English edition.
A TREATISE OF FOODS In GENERAL:
First, The Difference and Choice which ought to be made of each Sort in parti-cular. Secondly, The Good and Ill Effects produced by them. Thirdly, The Principles wherewith they abound. And, Fourthly, The Time, Age and Constitution they [f]suit with. To which are added, Remarks upon each Chapter; wherein their Nature and U[f]ses are explained, according to the Principles of Chymi[f]siry and Mechani[f]sm. Written in French, By M. LOUIS LEMERY, Regent-Doctor of the Faculty of Phy[f]sick at Paris, and of the Academy Royal of Sciences. Now done into English. LONDON, Printed for John Taylor, at the Ship in St. Pauls-Church-Yard. MDCCIV.
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 1 fep with provenance - Tomasina Bunyan, dated March 1830. [1] The Appropriation page is mis-bound, it should be bound in after the Title page. [1]. 3p To Monsieur Boudin. [1] 6p The Preface. 6p A Table of Chapters. (1)11-XX Of Foods in General. 1-310. 6 p Index. 2p Advertisements. 1 fep. The text block has been rebound tightly. The pages are evenly age browned with notations & some marginalia in an 18th century hand. Overall a fine copy. Contemporary dark brown panelled calf boards with a re-laid matching modern calf spine with raised bands with a black morocco label with gilt writing and tooling.
- M. Louis Lémery, - 1677–1743, wrote and published the first French edition of ‘Traité des alimens ‘ in 1702. In 1704 this very rare first English edition was translated and printed. Lemery was appointed physician at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris in 1710, and became demonstrator of chemistry at the Jardin du Roi in 1731. He was also the author of ‘Dissertation sur la nature des os ‘ - 1704, as well as of a number of papers on chemical topics. His father Nicolas Lémery, (November 17, 1645 – June 19, 1715) a chemist, was born at Rouen. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry. Lemery's extremely scarce antiquarian book is also found in facsimile in the Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. They have made it available as part of their commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of facsimiles of rare and hard-to-find books. Bitting p.281; Cagle 821; Maclean p.89; Oxford 1704.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11191

Careme.   Marie Antonin     - The rarest edition bound in Kangaroo.
LE PATISSIER NATIONAL PARISIEN
TOME 1. - OU TRAITE ELEMENTAIRE ET PRATIQUE DE LA PATISSERIE ANCIENNEET MODERNE. Suivi d’observation utilesau progress de cet art. Par M.A. CAREME, de Paris.. Auteur du Patissier pittoresque, du Maitre-d’ hotel francaise, du Cuisinier parisien ou L’Art de faire la Cuisine francaise ou xix siècle. NOUVELLE EDITION, REVUE ET CORRIGEE ORNEE DE NOMBREUSES FIGURES. TOME PREMIER. (A nice etching of a raised pie on a dish) PARIS. GARNIER FRERES, LIBRAIRES-EDITEURS. 6, RUE DES SAINTE-PERES, 6. [n/d circa 1879]. TOME 11. - LE PATISSIER NATIONAL PARISIEN OU TRAITE ELEMENTAIRE ET PRATIQUE DE LA PATISSERIE ANCIENNEET MODERNE. Suivi d’observation utilesau progress de cet art. Par M.A. CAREME, de Paris.. Auteur du Patissier pittoresque, du Maitre-d’ hotel francaise, du Cuisinier parisien ou L’Art de faire la Cuisine francaise ou xix siècle. NOUVELLE EDITION, REVUE ET CORRIGEE ORNEE DE NOMBREUSES FIGURES. TOME PREMIER. (A nice etching of a Chartreuse on a dish) PARIS. GARNIER FRERES, LIBRAIRES-EDITEURS. 6, RUE DES SAINTE-PERES, 6. [n/d circa 1879]
TOME 1. 193 x 124mm. 1 new fep. Tipped in original yellow paper cover with same text as title page. [1] Original fep with bookplate on verso. Half-title with Careme’s portrait on the verso. Title Page. [1]. (1)vi Dedication to M. Boucher dated 1815. (1)viii – x Preface. (1)xii – xxxiii Discours Preliminaire. [1] (1)xxxvi Division de cet ouverage. (1)xxxviii – lxviii Vocabulaire. (1)2 -421. [1] 424 – 430 Table des Metieres. 1 original Fep. Tipped in original yellow-paper back cover. Overall an extremely nice clean copy with untrimmed pages and etchings in the text. Rebound in beautiful modern half red Kangaroo leather, marbled boards, raised bands to spine with fine gilt tooling to compartments. (The binding done by Roger Perry of Queensland, Australia. He has over 40 years of bookbinding experience having been indentured to the famous Bayntun’s of Bath. Along with his wife who is the paper expert they run a very small thriving business from their garage in the suburbs of Brisbane. An unlikely location for an expert binder! Roger showed me the difference between the standard European leathers and Kangaroo; Surprisingly tougher and smother than the other traditional bindings of calf, goat and sheep). TOME 11. 173 x 120mm. 1 new fep. Half title. [1] [1] with a frontispiece of an Almond Pyramid. Title page. [1] (1)2 – 464. (1)466 – 478 Table des Metieres.. 36 pages of Advertisements. 1 original Fep. The first 24 pages with light foxing and somtime quite severely trimmed, but not affecting the text. This accounts for the smaller size of the 2nd volume compared to the first. Many etchings in the text. Rebound in beautiful modern half red Kangaroo leather, marbled boards, raised bands to spine with fine gilt tooling to compartments. Even though both volumes are slightly different in size, the binder Roger Parry has done a very good job matching the gilt work on the spines. Overall a very nice made-up set.
- Marie Antonin Careme had a short but very unusual life. A story he told and retold as an adult tells us all that we know about the chef’s early childhood in Paris. Recorded by his secretary Frédéric Fayot, it recounts: “His parents, who had had twenty-five children, lived in the most abject poverty; his father, an unskilled laborer, frequently got drunk, perhaps out of disgust with life, and the irregularities of his conduct increased the misery and the distress of those for whom he was responsible. One Monday he came home before dinnertime and took his young son out for a walk. They went out of the city into the fields. After the walk, they came back in through the Main gate, near which they ate dinner. At the end of the meal, the father spoke to the poor child of his future, which was to be divorced from that of the family. “Go, my little one, go now; there are good trades in the world; leave us, misery is our lot; this will be an age of many fortunes [the Revolution was under way]; all that is required to make one is intelligence, and you have that; This evening or tomorrow, perhaps, some good place will welcome you. Go with what God has given you.”…The young Carême was left in the street, quite literally. He never saw his parents again; his mother and father died some years later; his brothers and sisters dispersed.” Astonishingly a unknown tavern owner took him in that same evening and gave the eleven or twelve-year-old Carême his first break in life, The next day he offered the boy a job. Fate had intervened and pulled Careme into French cuisine -- How he would change it! Later he would publish his famous book ‘Le Patissier Royal Parisien’. He also wrote of this period: “When I take a look around Paris, I see with pleasure in every neighborhood the improvements and the growth that the pastry shops have undergone since this work appeared; The pastry cooks of the suburbs, having my book in their hands, have not feared to move into the heart of the capital; those who had formerly worked in private households have set up in business for themselves, which they would never have dared to do without the aid of my volume.” This was the time of the Revolution when cooks of the private households were leaving in fear of being tainted by the same red, white and blue republican fervor of the masses and ending up alongside their former aristocratic and headless employers. This was also the reason the ‘Royal’ of ‘Le Patissier Royal Parisien’ was replaced by the fearful and crafty publishers of ‘Le Patissier National Parisien’. Although this is a late copy of Careme’s great influential work, a complete set of the re-titled two volumes are rarer than any of his other books. None found in OCLC, COPAC, British Library or any major bibliographies nor auction records. The Library of Congress has an imperfect copy of Vol.2.

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Antiquarian category
ref number: 11200

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

ANON.       The complete set together; Very rare.
A Set of twelve cookery book miniatures.
Each title page the same. THE LITTLE BOOK ------. a small square printer's device. GEORGE NEWNES LTD. Southampton St., Strand. London W.C. With a double red line border.
A SOLE EDITION. Circa 1912. Each book: 90 x 60mm. 1. Book of Jellies, Creams & Ices. 2. Book of Household Hints. 3. Book of French Cookery. 4. Book of Pastry and Cakelets. 5. Book of Book of Confectionery. 6. Book of Jewish Cookery. 7. Book of Preserves and Pickles. 8. Book of Puddings. 9. Book of Simple Remedies. 10. Book of Sandwiches and Beverages. 11. Book of Salads and Savouries. 12. Book of Etiquette. Each book covered in an original colourful fine cloth, with a couple slightly rubbed at the edges of the spines. All books internally very clean. A fine set. All housed in a purpose made clam-shell box.
- Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (see image #1. below) (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was an English publisher and editor and a founding father of popular journalism. His company, George Newnes Ltd, continued publishing ground-breaking consumer magazines such as Nova long after his demise. Decades after the proprietor's death, George Newnes Ltd continued into the 1960s as one of London's four leading magazine publishers – along with Odhams Press Ltd, C. Arthur Pearson and the Hulton Press – producing a diverse range of titles from Lady's Companion, Woman’s Own, Nova, Rave and Flair, to Practical Mechanics and Practical Television. In 1963, the company became part of the International Publishing Corporation. Today books under the Newnes imprint continue to be published by Elsevier.

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Modern category
ref number: 11254

Davidson.   Alan (Editor)     Very rare set signed by Alan Davidson & Elizabeth David.
Petits Propos Culinaires.
Journals 1 - 9. And Alan Davidson's 47 page Funeral booklet of essays and recipes.
Approx, 9 x 188 x 134 mm. All booklets as new. Also has the supplement to # 3. Housed in a red cloth covered slipcase with two black labels with gilt text and tooling. Also a fine mint copy of Alan Davidson's Funeral Cookbook. Consisting of 47 pages, and handed out to attendees at his Memorial Service, Chelsea Old Church, London, 19th February, 2004.
- Petits Propos Culinaires [PPC] was launched February 1979. It was described by the editor Alan Davidson [AD] as a semi-academic triannual periodical dealing with all things gastronomic. The initial partners with Elizabeth David [ED] and AD. were eight others. These nine booklets have the signatures of AD and ED. The first issued booklet is a limited edition of 100, of which this one is # 24. As well as being signed by AD. there is also an inscription "For the McKirdys with many thanks for their highly effective sales promotion". Mike and Tessa McKirdy were dealers of books on cookery and gastronomy. They also published much appreciated and anticipated regular catalogues. From AD's inscription we can see that the McKirdys had promoted the PPC publications. These nine booklets have originally come from the McKirdy's collection. Booklets 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9 have signed complimentary slips by AD. inserted for Mike and Tessa. From one of the slips we see the McKirdys had a regular package of twenty of each of the published booklets to sell in their catalogue. Booklet 3 is signed by Elizabeth David [ED] on page nine over an essay titled 'The Harvest of Cold Months'. This was a preview of ED's large book of the same name first published 1994. Booklets 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are also signed by ED. This set is very unique as I have another set of PPCs (see item # 11088 on this site) and none of them are signed by ED. but are all signed by AD. PPC is a wonderful source of information, essays, notes and bibliographical details by many famous expert contributors, on all the ages of cookery, gastronomy and the authors. Also included is a copy of AD's Funeral Cookbook. A booklet of essays and recipes composed by Davidson as a memento to be handed out to those attending his Memorial Service, Chelsea Old Church, London, 19th February, 2004. The cover depicts the design of the label for the marmalade Alan made every year from his family’s recipe. There is one illustration by Glen Baxter. Davidson came across the idea of the funeral cookbook custom in Thailand, where a person composes a small cookbook before her or his death so that it can be distributed to mourners attending the funeral. Davidson's version starts with a short essay on this subject, followed by recipes for marmalade, Greek chicken and fish, epicure's kidneys, fricased skate, Con's mince, toad in the hole, waterzooi, meat loaf, smothered cabbage, aubergine gratin, fried zucchini, Tabitha Tickletooth's bread and butter pudding, apple crumble tart, trifle, fluffy tapioca pudding, Susan's grape dessert (all these collected from a variety of sources). From a personal point of interest, this very unique set had a immediate impact on me when I found it, not only because of Elizabeth David and Alan Davidson, both of whom I greatly admired, but that of Mike McKirdy whom I considered a friend and now sadly has passed on as well. A treasured item.

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Information

Modern category
ref number: 11282