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Woolley. Hannah - The rare first edition.
THE COMPLEAT SERVANT-MAID.
OR, THE Young Maidens Tutor. Directing how they may fit, and qualifie themselves for any of those Employments. Viz, Waiting Women, House-keeper, Chamber-maid, Cook-Maid, Under Cook-Maid, Nursery-maid, Dairy-Maid, House-Maid, Scullery-Maid. (a single line) Composed for the great benefit and advantage of all young Maidens. (a single line) LONDON, Printed for T. Passinger, at the tree Bibles on London Bridge, 1677.
FIRST EDITION. 150x92mm. 1fep with large bookplate of John George Mortlock and Licence information on Verso. Title page has a full double line border. [1] 7 pages The Epistle. [1] 1-167. 3 pages Advertisements. 2feps. 2 folding plates of writing examples, between pages 20-21. 1 plate repaired without loss. Pages 142-154 Bills of Fare. Lightly age-browned throughout. Original dark brown calf boards neatly re-tipped. Modern calf spine sympathetically bound in.
- Jilly Lehmann in her very informative book ‘The British Housewife’ has assembled from meagre facts a good dated biography of Hannah Woolley. Probably born 1623, she was one of the most prolific Elizabethan cookery writers. Due to the fact that her works were heavily plagiarised and she produced in total, five cookery books between 1661 and 1677, it made her the dominant figure amongst cookery authors. She was also the first to put her name to her works (although this volume remains anonymous) and make a precarious living from writing cookery books. In the supplement of ‘The Queen-like Closet’, Woolley informs us the she learned her cookery skills from her mother and elder sisters. By the age of seventeen she was employed for seven years by a noble lady, who encouraged her by buying her ingredients and books. She then married Woolley in 1647 when she was twenty-four. Woolley was the master of a free school at Newport Pond in Essex. Seven years later they moved and opened another school in Hackney with sixty boarders. Woolley died leaving Hannah with four children to support. She then married Francis Challinor in 1666. In the early 1660’s she possibly worked for Lady Anne Wroth and her daughter Mary to whom ‘The Cooks Guide’ is dedicated. This last book of Woolley’s is unusual, in that it addresses the complete back-of-house department skills besides just the kitchen. Addressing all the servants, or in Woolley’s words; Young Maidens, advising them of the various crucial skills needed to secure their position and improve them and importantly, to please their titled employers. This book shows just how astute Woolley was. She identified the back-of-house areas not generally covered solely in cookery books and produced one just specifically for that purpose. Oxford has a 1677 edition and comments on the usefulness of this little book. He informs of a 9th edition of 1729 with a supplement, but the plates removed. Hazlitt and Cagle have each a 5th edition of 1691. COPAC shows nine copies of the 1677 - 1st edition in UK holdings.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11215

Hill. Sir John - Rare large paper copy with 75 hand-coloured plates.
The British Herbal
AN HISTORY OF PLANTS and TREES, NATIVES of BRITIAN, CULTIVATED FOR USE, OR RAISED FOR BEAUTY. By JOHN HILL, M.D. LONDON: Printed for T. Osborne and J. Shipton, in Gray's-Inn, J. Hodges, near London-Bridge; J. Newbery, in St. Pauls Church-Yard; B. Collins, And S. Crowder and H. Woodgate, in Pater-noster-Row. MDCCLV1.
FIRST EDITION. Very large folio. 475x295mm. Marbled end-papers and front and back paste-downs. 1fep Frontispiece (hand-coloured allegorical full page engraving showing the "Genius of Health receiving the tributes---") Title page with red and black text and a coloured vignette (praised and illustrated by Henrey 11) 2pp dedication with coloured arms of the Earl of Northumberland flanked by the lion and the unicorn. [1] 2-533. 3pp index. 1fep. With 75 plates of multiple botanical and herbal specimens, all delicately coloured by a contemporary hand. A large paper copy. Possibly original full dark brown calf boards with faded double gilt lined border. Spine in same dark calf, raised with faded gilt. Gilt lettering in one compartment. Overall slightly rubbed but nicely re-polished. Frontispiece edges sometime expertly restored without loss or affecting the coloured engraving. Title page lightly dusted with a 1" light brown stain not affecting text. Small 1"sq. old sellotape mark on p79 not affecting text. The last four pages lightly browned with page repairs not affecting text. Very neat contemporary manuscript notes in margins throughout referring to several plants names and perhaps positions in the garden, ownership inscription on blank side of frontispiece of Solomon Ackroyd. Overall a nice bright copy in its original condition.
- Sir John Hill MD (1716?-1775) was thought to have been born at Peterborough in 1716. As a boy he was apprenticed to an apothecary. He tried to increase his profits by studying botany and was employed by royalty to arrange their gardens and collect dried plants. He was also considered to be a "miscellaneous writer" and published plays and small periodicals. He founded such journals as the British Magazine. He was ultimately responsible for penning over 70 books and hundreds of articles on almost all subjects of interest. Hill contributed many articles to the Supplement to Mr. Chambers's Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts & Sciences. During the 1750's he obtained a diploma of medicine from the University of St. Andrews. In 1756 he published The British Herbal: An History of Plants and Trees Natives of Britain, Cultivated For Use, or Raised For Beauty. This was the 26th book he had published. Later, in 1759, he commenced publication of The Vegetable System and for the next sixteen years, he was occupied in bringing out this monumental, 26-volume work containing sixteen hundred copper plate engravings representing twenty-six thousand different plants. It was not to be completed until just before his death in 1775. Sadly, as with many undertakings of this magnitude, the money ran out, and Hill turned his hand to quack medicine. Hill applied himself to the preparation of various herb medicines such as 'the essence of waterdock', 'tincture of valerian', 'pectoral balsam of honey', etc. He thus made a considerable sum of money which he put back into his work. Hill also obtained appointments to such prestigious positions as Superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Kew & Gardener of Kensington. He died of gout, (a disease for which he professed to have an invaluable cure), on 21st Nov. 1775. Some of his botanical works are considered classics. The British Herbal is much rarer than John Gerard's 'Historie of Plants' and is a work of veracity and vitally important for modern botanical nomenclature in that, not only did Hill attempt to name and categorize the flowers and herbs which grow in Britain, but he classifed them on the forms of the corolla and gynoecium and criticised the Linnaean system. Henrey 799; Lowndes vol II, 1070. (Sophie Schneideman Cat.5. Feb.09)

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10986

NUTT. Frederick - A superlatively rare find
Nutt's own signed manuscript recipe book -- circa 1789.
The manuscript is in 5 approximately even sections with one fifth of the total pages blank: 1st section -- 214 numbered receipts with an index. 2nd section -- 59 numbered receipts with an index. 3rd section -- 9 pages of English spelling & shorthand studies. 4th section -- 69 pages of unnumbered receipts; mainly sweets, wines, cordials and pickles. No index. Frederick Nutt’s signature is on the very first page and in the 2nd section, above recipe # 42, for Currant Jelly. There is a date in the 4th section of June 10th 1826. The first section is almost the same as the 1st printed edition of Nutt’s 'Complete Confectioner' of 1789; It is almost identical in recipe sequence, recipe content and index. Out of 237 recipes in the 1st edition, there are only 44 recipes out of sequence in the manuscript. Most of the 44 recipes can be found in the 2nd section of the manuscript. The 2 biggest anomalies in the 1st section index are - # 1 -- the block of 6 ‘Cordials’ starting with recipe # 182. They are not present in the index of ‘The Complete Confectioner’. Anomaly # 2 – in ‘The Complete Confectioner’ there are 7 recipes in the chapter ‘Fruits Preserved in Brandy’ (recipe # 180) -- that are not in the 1st section of the manuscript, but scattered in the 2nd section. This is without doubt, Frederick Nutt’s own manuscript recipe book -- circa 1789, which he used to publish the 1st edition of his 'Complete Confectioner'.
16mo The manuscript measures 159 x 65 mm. The book is dis-bound with back board present. The text block is tight. There are a couple of pages loose. All pages are age browned. The text is small, neat, legible and in Nutt's handwriting throughout. Preserved in a brown cloth covered hand tied, folding sleeve. All held in a fine modern full tan calf clamshell box. Raised bands on spine with gilt lines and blind tooling in the compartments. 2 labels - one red, one green with gilt lettering. The boards edged with gilt lines.
- Although Frederick Nutt did not add his name to his famous book, 'The Complete Confectioner', it is understood that it was out of respect for another famous confectioner, Domenico Negri, at the 'Pot and Pineapple' shop in Berkley Square, where Nutt had been formally apprenticed. This probably means that many of the recipes contained in this manuscript and 'The Complete Confectioner' are from the 'Pot and Pineapple' as well as his later places of employment. All conscientious apprentices would keep a journal of all recipes seen and done, as they went about learning their trade. As can be seen in this detailed manuscript, in this respect Nutt was no exception, giving one a sense of a very diligent craftsman. One aspect of the manuscript that it is quite startling is how little editing happened between the manuscript (see the detailed description of this item above) and the published first edition of 'The Complete Confectioner'(see item 10909 below}. Compared to today's multi-faceted approach and effort needed to get a successful cookery book onto the market, the manuscript and the subsequent book, surprise and amaze by their simplicity.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10908

Partridge. John - Extremely rare.
THE TREASURY OF Hidden Secrets,
Commonly called, The Good-huswives Closet of provision, for the health of her Household. Gathered out of sundry experiments, lately practised by men of great knowledge: And now newly inlarged with divers necessary Physick helps, and knowledge of the names and disposition of diseases, that most commonly happen to Men and Women. Not imeprtinant for every good Huswife to us ein her House, amongst her own Family. [Printers woodcut device] LONDON, Printed by Jane Bell, and to be sold at the East-end of Christ-Church, 1653.
Quarto, A-I in 4's. 1fep. Title page. [1] A2 - FINIS. [Total pp 63] 3p The Table. 1fep. Original full dark brown calf. Blind tooled border line to boards. Spine with gilt lines and lettering re-laid. Pages are age browned with browning to edges. Text in black letter. Top of one leaf restored without loss. A good copy of an extremely rare book.
- John Partridge was an Elizabethan author of historical poem-romance. The earthy, mundane cookbook was an unusual transgression from the norm. His book, the ‘Treasury of Hidden Secrets’ was a popular 16th and early 17th century English handbook of cookery, herbals, and medicine. First published around 1573, it was printed in London by Richard Jones, and gives John Partridge as the author. It was frequently reprinted for over 75 years; the present volume is that of the 1653 edition printed by Jane Bell. The earliest extant copy of the book is the 1573 edition. Its title was ‘The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits & Hidden Secrets’, reprinted in 1584, again by Jones, the title-page advertised it as 'now the fourth time corrected, and inlarged,' The Elizabethan printer might have been exclusively a printer, or both bookseller and printer; but booksellers were not necessarily printers. Both printers and booksellers in London were tightly controlled, licensed, censored, and fined for violations. Some copies note that Jones’s 1584 printing was 'at Eliot’s Court Press for Henry Car,' suggesting Car as a bookseller who helped to finance the printing. When the book was reprinted in 1591, Richard Jones is now located ‘at the Rose and Crowne neere Holborne bridge.’ The Bodleian’s bibliographic record suggests J. Charlewood as the 1591 printer. Jones is again given as printer for the 1596 edition. The book was again reprinted in 1608. This seems to be the latest date that the name John Partridge occurs in the text; subsequent editions are published anonymously. The next reprint was in 1627, from a new bookseller and printer; the book was ‘Printed [by Eliot’s Court Press] for E.B[rewster] and R.B[yrd], and are to be sold at the ‘signe of the Bible in Cheapside.’ By 1627 the phrase, ‘Commodious Conceits’ had dropped out of the title and the title page identifies it as ‘The Treasurie of Hidden Secrets.’ In 1633 it was first printed by a woman ‘Elizabeth All-de dwelling neere Christs-church.’ Elizabeth was the widow of Edward All-de, a typical London printer whose father, John, was also a printer and whose work and style was well known. In 1637 ‘Treasury’ was ‘printed by Richard Oulton, dwelling neere Christs-church.’ As McKerrow (genealogy resources) suggest that Allde died in 1628, Richard Oulton may have taken over the press from his widow by 1637. Finally, ‘Treasury’ was last reprinted in 1653 'by Jane Bell and to be sold at the East end of Christ-church.' Originals of the 1573 printing are held by the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Henry E. Huntington Library. The only other work attributed to John Partridge is the cookery-medicine book called ‘The Widowes Treasure'. Partridge borrowed from a friend a copy of a household book written for the private use of ‘a gentlewoman in the country’, and decided it was his duty to publish it in 1585 under the title, 'The Widowes Treasure'. Copies of both Partridge's books are extremely rare, with none at auction since 1926. The BL only locates two other copies of the 1653 edition of ‘Treasury of Hidden Secrets’, one in the UK, and one in the US.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11023

Rose. Giles - Complete copy of one of the rarest cookery books
A perfect School of INSTRUCTIONS For the Officers of the Mouth:
SHEWING The Whole ART of A Master of the Household, A Master Carver, A Master Butler, A Master Confectioner, A Master Cook, A Master Pastryman. Being a Work of singular Use for Ladies and Gentlewomen, and all Persons whatsoever that are desirous to be acquainted with the most Excellent ARTS of Carving, Cookery, Pastry, Preserving, and Laying a Cloth for Grand Entertainments. The like never before extant in any Language. Adorned with Pictures curiously Ingraven, displaying the whole Arts. By Giles Rose one of the Master Cooks in His Majesties Kitchen. LONDON, Printed for R. Bentley and M. Magnes, in Russel-street in Covent Garden, 1682.
FIRST and SOLE ENGLISH EDITION. 12mo. 2fep. Title Page with single line border. 8pp The Dedication. 10pp To the Reader. 4pp The Contents. 1-563 [1] 2fep. Forty two woodcut illustrations (most of which are full page) in the text. Internally very clean with no browning or foxing. Contemporary dark brown calf with double blind-fillet around the sides. Red morocco label with gilt lettering. Raised bands and overall, a nice patina. In it's original complete state; an exceptional rarity.
- The rare English edition of 'L'Ecole Parfaite des Officiers de Bouche' first French edition of 1662. One of the most important and popular titles of 17th century French Gastronomy. This English edition comprises of the six original books, (and not five as is sometimes supposed) 'Le Maistre de Hostel; or, Steward of a Family; 'Le grand Escuyer tranchant; or, The Great Master Carver; 'Le Sommelier Royal; or, The Royal Butler; 'Le Confiturier Royal; or, The Royal Confectioner; 'Le Cuisinier Royal; or, The Royal French Master Cook; and 'Le Pastissier Royal; or, The Royal Pastry Cook'. Including numerous primitive woodcuts depicting table settings and various carving methods, including more than fifty ways of carving fruit. An interesting aside is that the engraved plates mirror (especially the fruit carvings) the very rare treatise on the art of carving by Jacques Vontet's - 'L'art de Trancher la Viande et Toutes Sortes des Fruits' [circa Lyon 1647]. Oxford states "It seems an excellent book, although it contains some strange things: 'Wine for the Gods', 'Sauce d'Enfer', 'Sheeps Feet for an Afternoon drinking" There are directions for folding napkins. There are dozens of ways of cooking eggs -- 'Eggs a l'Intrigue', 'Eggs a la Negligence', etc - and dozens of different pies and tarts, including 'a tart of frogs', 'a tart made with tortoise' and Sausages made from the Brain of a Capon'. Simon Gough states with insight in one of his wonderfully eccentric catalogues 'Food for Thought' -- "it is curious how few great collections of cookery books contain this volume". By way of an answer, he further proclaims, -- "It is one of the rarest cookery books in the English language" In past years at auction, there are no copies in any of the great cookery book collections of Schraemli, Westbury, Simon, Lambert, Crahan, Wretman, Marks. There was an incomplete copy from Simon Hall's collection, sold at the Dominic Winter Book Auctions in 2005. In the 80's Simon Gough had the complete 'Lister' copy for sale in his 47th catalogue. The Lister copy came up again at auction in the Cetus Library sale at Bloomsbury Books on Sept. 22nd 2011, proving just how very few there are in circulation. No more than three recorded; with one of them incomplete. One complete copy was available at the online California Book Fair, March 2021. OCLC indicates eight copies only; Bitting p.407; Cagle p970; Oxford p42; Wing R1933.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10959

LA VARENNE. FRANCOIS PIERRE Rare English translation of 'Le Cuisinier Francois'
THE FRENCH COOK
Prescribing the way of making ready of all sorts of Meats, Fish and Flesh, with the proper Sauces, either to procure Appetite, or to advance the power to Digestion: with the whole skill of pastry work. Together with a Treatise of Conserves, both dry and liquid, a la mode de France. The second Edition, carefully exami-ned, and compared with the originall: and purged throughout. from many mistakes, and defects; and supplyed in diverse things, left out, in the former impression. With an Addition of some choice re-ceits of Cookery lately grown in use among the nobility and gentry by a prime artist of our own nation. (a single long line) Written in French by Monsieur De La Varenne of Uxelles, and now Englished by I.D.G. (a single long line) London, Prinet for Charles Adams, at the Talbut neere St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet. 1654.
A 2nd EDITION: 124 x 78 mm. Inside the front cover, this copy's important provenance: André L. Simon & Eleanor Lowenstein's jointly engraved book-plate. 1fep with the engraved frontispiece laid down nicely on the verso. Title page. [1] A2-3 Epistle Dedicatory. [1] 16 p To the Reader. (1&2)3-297. [1] 1fep. Closely trimmed in places, occasionally just touching a headline, signature mark or catchword with no loss. The last page laid down with a small 1" diagonal piece of the top corner missing with loss of text. Very lightly age browned throughout. Fully bound in dark blue morocco with gilt borders to covers. Original spine with gilt lines and tooling laid down expertly. Text block edges in red. Oxford p.23-24 Wing L625. Cagle 818, a 3rd edition. EST records only 5 copies in public holdings. This is a very nice rare cookery book with a fine provenance.
- At CooksInfo online - https://www.cooksinfo.com/francois-pierre-de-la-varenne: we can see some well-researched biographical details of La Varenne's life. La Varenne was considered by some to be a founding father of French cuisine. He was an important bridge between the predominately flesh based old style and a more contemporary thoughtful approach to French cooking. He was the first to introduce in print, bisque and bechamel sauce, and his work contains the first usage of the terms, bouquet garni, reductions and mille-feuille. It also includes an earlv form of hollandaise sauce. A bizarre recipe for a 'Potage of Tortoise' is included. One of the notable key points of this book and La Varenne's cookery is found on page 220. He lists 20 vegetables; "that may be found in gardens, which one may use on occasion to serve up with first courses, the inter-course of Fish dishes, other flesh dishes, and in Lent", In the old style French cuisine, vegetables were not considered part of the French diet until Nicolas de Bonnefon's book 'Le Jardinier Francois' first published; 1651, (see item 11294 on this site) detailing the large gardens at Versailles where we get the clear impression that de Bonnefon's book detailing Louis X1V's great interest in growing all types of produce, especially vegetables, which would have had a huge impact on the French Aristocracy and their cooks, and ultimately filtering down to all levels of French cooking. La Varenne proves himself to be a truly progressive Chef incorporating very interesting innovations into his great book. He passed away at Dijon; 1678. Leaving behind one of the most important cookery books detailing French Cuisine in its earliest development. Originally pub; in French, titled 'Le Cuisinier Francois', Paris 1651. The first English edition was pub: London 1653. This is a rare unrecorded 2nd of 1654. There is a later 3rd edition 1673. There are copies at Leeds University, Nat.Library of Scotland, The Wellcombe Library, Huntington Library and Wellesley College.

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category

ref number: 11338

Dodoens. Rembert - The rare first ed. of 1578 with Thos. Campion's signature.
A Nievve Herball,
Or, HISTORIE OF PLANTES: wherein is contayned the vvhole discourse and per-fect description of all sortes of Herbes and Plantes: their diuers & sundry kindes: their straunge Figures, Fashions, and Shapes: their Names / Natures / Operations / and Ver-tues: and that not onely of those whiche are here growyng in this our Countrie of Englande / but of all others also of forrayne Realmes / commonly used in physicke. First set forth in the Doutche or Almaigne tongue, by that learned D. Rembert Do-doens, Physition to the Emperour: And nowe first translated out of French into English, by Hen-ry Lyte Esquyer. AT LONDON by m Gerard Dewes, dwelling in Pawles Churchyarde at the signe of the Swanne. 1578. Title within woodcut historiated border, with woodcut arms of the translator on verso.
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 1578. Large thick 4to. 295x202mm. 1fep. Engraved Title strengthened and reinforced at the edges with no loss. On the verso - Henry Lyte's coat of Arms and a crest "a swan volant silver upon a trumpet gold," (which was not actually granted him by Clarenceux King of Arms uпtil the following year). 2p, Dedication to Queen Elizabeth. 1p, Dedication to the friendly and indifferent Reader. 3p, Latin text headed W.B. and Thomas Newton. 1p, A commendation to Henry Lyte. 2p, To the Reader, in commendation of this worke. Verso - woodcut portrait of Dodoens. 4p, Medical credentials of Rembert Dodoens. 2p, Epistola ad Lectorem of Rembert Dodoens. 6p, Appendix. 1-779. 24p Index in Latin. (one page with srengtheened edge). On verso, Antwerp printers allegorical woodcut colophon. 2 feps, first blank with neat manuscript writing and on the last blank; Thomas Campion's signature. The first six pages and the engraved title page slightly dusty. With 870 woodcuts of plants. A full dark brown calf binding with blind tooled lines and device on the boards. The spine with raised bands, blind tooled lines and a red morocco label with gilt lettering. A nice copy of the very rare first with the wonderful woodcuts. (It was even described as very rare in the 17th century). Bookplate on front paste-down of Henry W. Poor.
- Rembert Dodoens, born Mechelen, Belgium on June 29, 1517, died in Leyden, Netherlands on March 10, 1585. He was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinised name Rembertus Dodonaeus. In 1530 he started his studies of medicine, cosmography and geography at the University of Leuven, where he graduated in 1535, then establishing himself as a physician in Mechelen in 1538. He married Kathelijne De Bruyn(e) in 1539. From 1542-1546 he stayed in Basel. He turned down a chair at the University of Leuven in 1557, also turning down an offer to become court physician of emperor Philip II of Spain, instead choosing to became the court physician of the Austrian emperor Rudolph II in Vienna (1575-1578). He then became professor of medicine at the University of Leiden in 1582. Dodoens' great herbal ‘Cruydeboeck’, 1554, was influenced by the herbal of Leonhart Fuchs. He divided the plant kingdom in six groups. It treated in detail especially the medicinal herbs, which made this work, in the eyes of many, a pharmacopoeia. It was translated first into French in 1557 by Charles de L'Ecluse and called a ‘Histoire des Plantes’, and then into English (via L'Ecluse) in 1578 by Henry Lyte, and titled ‘A Neiwe Herbal, or Historie of Plants’. This first edition of the English translation was printed in folio at Antwerp, in order to secure the woodcuts of the original; the blocks being too heavy and valuable to transport. It has 779 pages mostly in black-letter and 870 woodcuts, about thirty of which are original. Lyte added very little original matter to the text. A second edition in square octavo and without any woodcuts, was printed in 1586 in London by Ninian Newton, and a third in 1595 by Edmund Bollifant in the same size. A folio edition also without woodcuts was published by Edward Griffin in 1619. In its time, it was the most translated book after the Bible. It became a work of worldwide renown, used as a reference book for two centuries. Dodoens's last book, ‘Stirpium Historiae Pemptades Sex sive Libri XXX’, 1583, was the Latin translation of his ‘Cruydeboeck’. It was used as a source by John Gerard for his Herball. The BL holds four copies; This first of 1578, other editions of 1586, 1595 and 1619. THOMAS CAMPION was born in London on February 12, 1567. He was a law student, a physician, a composer, a writer of masques and a poet. He went to Peterhouse College - Cambridge in 1581. In 1586 was admitted to Gray's Inn in London to study law. He participated in the Gray's Inn revels of 1588 and contributed songs to the Gesta Grayorum revels of 1594, but seems never to have been called to the bar. Campion's first poetic attempts were in Latin. His love of quantitative versification in classical Latin poems carried over into his English poems and songs. Campion was first published in 1591, when five of his songs appeared in Newman's unauthorized edition of Sidney's Astrophel and Stella. Four years later he published his own book, a collection of Latin epigrams, called Poemata (1595). Campion's reputation rests chiefly on his lyric poems, which are distinguished by their musical quality and charm. They were published 1601-1617 in four books of airs, beginning with A Booke of Ayres to be Sung to the Lute, Orpherian and Bass Viol (1601). Campion spent three years (1602-1605) on the Continent, and received the M.D. degree from the University of Caen in 1605. After returning to England, he practised as a doctor in London from 1606. During that time, he wrote several masques which were performed at the court of James I. Perhaps the best of them was the Lords' Masque (1613). In 1613 he also published A New Way of Making Fowre Parts in Counterpoint, a book on music theory. Campion died in London, probably of the plague, on March 1, 1620, and was buried at St. Dunstan's-in-the-West. Henry W. Poor whose bookplate is tipped into this book, was born in 1844, and was an American banker and publisher of 'Poors' Railway Manual'. He was also a famous wall street dealer, active in leather and ice securities garnering a fortune in excess of $5,000,000. He was a collector of fine art and had a library that was without equal anywhere in the country. He died in 1915.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11078

Beeton. Isabella Mary - The original 24 monthly parts.
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. LONDON: S.O. BEETON, 248, STRAND, W.C. 1861.
FIRST and SOLE EDITION, in the original 24 parts. 8vo. As called for, parts 1 & 2 in creamy beige paper covers printed in black; Parts 3 - 24 in terra cotta paper covers printed in black. There are 12 coloured plates as frontispieces to parts 1-10 & parts 13 and 16. Part 1 has the printed title page, with the Bouverie St. address. Frontispiece of the “The free, fair homes of England”. The Title page, 2p Preface, the General Contents and first 2pages of the Analytical Index mis-bound into booklet 24, but all present and correct. Booklet # xii mis-printed as # vii, but collation is correct. All with the original printed wrappers and with a few very minor scuffs otherwise the whole set complete and in very good condition. All the pages untrimmed and some uncut. Housed in a handsome modern clamshell box with half bottle green morocco and cloth boards. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and two red calf labels with gilt writing and tooling.
- Isabella Beeton accomplished an amazing amount during her short life. The early deaths of her first and second-born children must have been devastating, yet she quickly resumed work at her usual furious pace. In an era when middle class females were expected to have no interests beyond "womanly matters", Isabella came to excel at a man's job in the manly profession of journalism. She could not have done so without the encouragement of her husband Sam, a London publisher of books and magazines for the newly prosperous middle class. Isabella and Sam complimented one another superbly on both a personal and professional level. Sam was emotional and creative, a genius at marketing his publications. Isabella was reserved and level headed, a meticulous researcher. Both were tireless workers in spite of the tuberculosis that eventually caused Sam’s death 12 years after Isabella's. Soon after their 1856 marriage Isabella began writing cookery articles for Sam's ‘Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine’ (EDM), that were issued in monthly booklets and also an annual volume. In time she also became the editor. Later came editorial responsibilities for the Beeton’s newly created magazine ‘The Queen’, but not before she had completed her research for the magnificent work for which she is still known today. ‘Household Management’ evolved from the cookery columns Isabella wrote for EDM. Her first few articles were written somewhat tentatively, for she had no previous culinary experience except pastry-making lessons at a boarding school in Germany. In spite of this she soon perfected her research methods and smooth confident style of writing. By the end of their first year of marriage Sam and Isabella had made plans to publish ‘Beeton's Book of Household Management’. ‘Household Management’ debuted firstly in EDM, then the first booklet was published November 1st 1859 and subsequently in a total of 24 monthly instalments, although in the first booklet it states that it was designed to be completed in 15 to 18 parts. Isabella had started testing recipes as early as 1857. Recipes found too difficult or expensive for the middle class households for which Isabella was writing (with the exception of an extravagant Louis Eustache Ude recipe for Turtle Soup), were discarded. Many of the final selections came from Eliza Acton's ‘Modern Cookery for Private Families’, and from Alexis Soyer's ‘Modern Housewife’, and other undisclosed sources. Isabella's skill was editing, not cookery, and she made no claim of composing any of the recipes herself except a "Soup for Benevolent Purposes". In the extensive advertising at the back of the first booklet it states that --- “the Editoress had nearly 2000 ladies of Great Britain and Ireland placed, and continue to place at her disposal, their assistance in furnishing such a collection of ‘facts’ relative to Domestic Economy, as had never before been brought together to enrich the pages of any similar work”. It further states that – “no recipe will be given that has not been tested by the Editoress or by her confidential friends and correspondents”. Many of those helpers no doubt scoured the popular cookery books of the time, to test, taste and send their results to Isabella. In these days of instant e-mail, Skype, mobile phone or working web-sites, for Isabella to manage, in the 1850’s, the correspondence and communication by letter of those 2000 recipe testers and helpers brings these booklets into a new light. These 24 parts are mainly about cookery, but there is also a chapter with instructions to the mistress of the house regarding responsibilities and duties, plus a detailed chapter on managing servants, including recipes for various household preparations. Three of the book's chapters, two medical and one legal, were not written by Isabella, but the inclusion of the legal chapter is noteworthy given the poor legal status of women during the Victorian era. ‘Household Management’ sold steadily in the original parts, and in 1861 the 24 parts were issued as the first edition in book form. As the last booklet was published in November 1861 the publication of the book by the end of that year was accomplished very efficiently. The only real differences between the parts and the first edition in book form is the absence of the covers of the booklets and the absence of the substantial advertising inside and on the covers. Interestingly, the title page and the page with the list of the coloured plates is the last page of the last booklet (# xxiv) but are in the right order given for the first edition in book form. The surprise is the plates are the frontispieces in the booklets and not in the order stated in the list of coloured plates. This shows that Isabella was getting the book ready for the printer long before the last booklet appeared and the title page and colour plate list inserted in booklet 24 appear to be a curious afterthought proving that unlike other books whose title pages are among the first to be printed, she by necessity had to have them printed for the book last. As the booklets were sold separately by the month and are quite delicate within their paper covers, then complete and undamaged sets are extremely rare. These are the original parts of the biggest publishing phenomenon of the 19th century.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11175

Glasse. Hannah - The rare folio 1st edition, first issue of 1747.
The ART of COOKERY MADE PLAIN and EASY
Which far exceeds any Thing of the Kind yet Published. CONTAINING, 1. Of Roasting, Boiling, etc. 11. Of Made-Dishes. 111.Read this Chapter and you will find how Expensive a French Cook's Sauce is. 1V. To make a Number of pretty little Dishes fit for a Supper, or Side-Dish, and little Corner-Dishes for a Great Table; and the rest you have in the Chapter for Lent. V. To dress Fish. V1. Of Soops and Broths. V11. Of Puddings. V111. Of Pies. 1X. For a Fast-Dinner, a Number of good Dishes, which you may make use of for a Table at any other Time. X. Directions for the Sick. X1. For Captains of Ships. X11. Of Hog's Puddings, Sausages, etc. X11. To pot and Make Hams, etc. X1V. Of Pickling. XV. Of making Cakes, etc. XV1. Of Cheesecakes, Creams, Jellies, Whip Syllabubs, etc. XV11. Of Made Wines, Brewing, French Bread, Muffins, etc. XV111. Jarring and Cherries, Preserves, etc. X1X. To make Anchovies, Vermicella, Ketchup, Vinegar, and to keep Artichokes, French Beans, etc. XX. Of Distilling. XX1. How to Market; the Seasons of the Year for Butchers Meat, Poultry, Fish, Herbs, Roots, etc and Fruit. XX11. A certain Cure for the Bite of a Mad Dog. By Dr. Mead. BY A LADY. A engraved printer's device between lines. LONDON: Printed for the AUTHOR, and sold at Mrs Ashburn's, a China-Shop, The Corner of Fleet-Ditch. MDCCXLVII [Price 3s.6 (the 6 written by hand) stictch'd, and 5s. bound]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. 1747. Folio. 287x184 mm. 1 fep. Title page with the the handwritten 6 after the 3s as called for in the last line. [1] 2 pages of Subscribers. 11 pages of Contents with small one inch piece with no loss missing from 1st page.1 page A small Instruction by Glasse. (1)ii To the Reader. (1)4 - 166, although miss-paginated; page numbers 66/67 and 136/137 missing with no loss to text (This miss-pagination matches Cagle's copy). 1 fep. Our copy seems to conform to Marcus Crahan’s description of the first issue, with 16pp. preliminaries rather than 20. Without notice of second place of sale on the title page and with the price of ‘6d’ entered by hand. Pages 37 - 41 with some foxing. All other pages very clean. Title page and edges slightly age browned. Spine and tips bound in sprinkled dark-brown half calf and boards marbled. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and tooled devices in compartments with red morocco label. A very good copy of one of the rarities of cookery texts.
- ‘The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy’ was written by Hannah Glasse and published in 1747 in its famous folio format. Even though it was expensive at 5 shillings for a bound copy or 3.6 shillings unbound, it was an instant success, and was a best seller for over a hundred years, being published continuously until 1843. This made Glasse one of the best-known cookery writers of the eighteenth century. She was not supplanted as a culinary authority until the work of Mrs. Isabella Beeton appeared in 1861 over a century later. The books of those famous ladies being two of the cornerstone works needed in the building of an English culinary library. As Hannah Glasse explains in the preface, the book was intended to be an instruction manual for servants - 'the lower sort' as she called them. As Hannah puts it, the book should 'improve the servants and save the ladies a great deal of trouble'. She is dismissive of the fanciful language used by other cookery book writers, which she feels simply confuses the servants: 'the poor girls are at a loss to know what they mean,' she writes. In contrast, her style is precise and direct. The power of her book though is the clarity of the writing. She's authoritative but she is also intimate, treating you as an equal. Even though a large percentage of the recipes were plagarised, even reproduced verbatim from recipes published in earlier books by other writers, she shows a great deal of her own skill and originality. It is an unprecedentedly comprehensive recipe book with simple instructions, accessible ingredients, an accent on thrift (even though she recommends in the preface that half a pound of butter is enough to fry 12 eggs), easy recipes and practical help with weights and timing, which was a big step up from previous works. Her writing style is lively, intelligent and amusing. Glasse is scornful of the elaborate and extravagant French recipes of the period, but many of her recipes will have been influenced by French cuisine, which was becoming increasingly fashionable at the time. This does not inhibit Glasse from including the earliest recipe in an English cookbook for Indian curry, albeit with just black pepper and coriander. No Huldi, Lal Mirch, Methi, Jeera etc. Even though the ‘Art of Cookery’ was a ground breaking effort that generated much interest, the fame and survival of Hannah Glasse’s book is not due to her genius or her ability as a cook, as she was neither, but for four years following its publication, there were widespread rumours that ‘The Art of Cookery’ had been written by a man. For a woman to have written such an eloquent and well-organised work seemed implausible to many. James Boswell's diary records a party at the house of the publisher Charles Dilly, at which the issue was discussed. He quotes Samuel Johnson as saying, 'Women can spin very well; but they cannot make a good book of cookery.' Many others also believed this. It was not till she edited and published her fourth edition of 1751 that Johnson’s ill-advised quip was proved false. Due to the negative press generated by the popular book being first written and published by ‘A Lady’, Glasse inserted her trade card as a handsome engraved frontispiece and signed the first page of recipes, putting to rest all the speculation. (See my 1751 edition – item number 10968 in this website). This first edition is extremely scarce, but just how scarce is hard to figure, even after a lot of research. Due to demand the second edition was published in the same year; 1747. This strongly indicates that the first print run was very small. As can be seen in the Subscriber’s list printed in the first edition, there are 202 names. Assuming the subscribers all received a copy and there was enough cash to print a few more, we can possibly assume a print run of no more than 500 copies. Scarce indeed! --- COPAC lists only 10 firsts of 1747 out of 491 copies of various other editions in British holdings. As could be expected there are substantially more second editions listed. This cookbook has a somewhat iconic status that is hard to believe. Along with Beeton's equally rare original 24 booklets of 'Household Management' published before she brought out the 1st edition in book form, they both fetch silly money when they do appear at auction. --- Bitting, pages 186-87; The STC by Virginia Maclean, page 59; Cagle, pages 497-8; Arnold Oxford, pages 76-77; The Cetus Library, sold at Bloomsbury Auctions, lot 149: Marcus and Elizabeth Crahan collection sold at Sothebys, p317; Andre Simon Bibliotheca Gastronomica , 761;

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11212