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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

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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ref number: 11338

Ude. Louis Eustache - A nice copy in the original state.
The French Cook.
A SYSTEM OF FASHIONABLE AND ECONOMICAL COOKERY, FOR THE USE OF ENGLISH FAMILIES. "True taste is an excellent economist." - Rogers. BY LOUIS EUSTACHE UDE. CO-DEVANT COOK TO LOUIS XVI. AND THE EARL OF SEFTON, AND LATE STEWARD TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF YORK. NINTH EDITION, ENLARGED. LONDON W.H. AINSWORTH, 23, OLD BOND-STREET; SOLD ALSO BY HURST AND CO., ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD; SHERWOOD AND CO., PA-TERNOSTER-ROW; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS-HALL-COURT; J. ANDREWS, NEW BOND-STREET; AND W. SAMS, ST JAMES'S-STREET; WILSON AND SONS, YORK; H. MOZELY, DERBY; W. AND W. CLARKE, MANCHESTER; G. AND J. ROBINSON, LIVERPOOL; OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH; AND WESTLEY AND TYRRELL, DUBLIN. 1827.
210x130 mm. 12p Advertisments. 1fep. (1)Frontispiece portrait of Ude. (drawn from life by Albert Hoffay). Title page. [1] (1)4 Reviews of Ude's book. (1)vi-xxiv Preface. xxv-xxxviii Advice to Cooks. Eight plates numbered 1-8. (1)2-480. (1)482-496 INDEX. 4p Advertisements (2 pages are an Advertisement of Jarrin's 'Italian Confectioner'). 1fep. Original slightly soiled blue cardboard boards and browned paper spine with printed label. Original untrimmed wide margined pages. Feps and frontis very lightly browned, but internally quite clean and bright. The spine is split but still holding. The back board is almost loose but holding. Housed in a beautiful clam-shell case with modern dark brown half calf and marbled boards. Raised bands to spine with gilt dentelles in the compartments. With a red label with gilt lettering. Overall a very nice copy in its original state. Hence the clam-shell box.
- The vain and extravagant Louis Eustache Ude – born in France circa 1769 died 10th April, 1846. He first published in 1813 his important cookbook ‘The French Cook’. Eustache's career in the Kitchen started with his father who had worked in the kitchens of Louis XVI, where he also got Eustache work as an apprentice.". Ude also worked for Napoleon's mother for 2 years. After arriving in England, he was firstly employed by William Philip Molyneux, the 2nd Earl of Sefton at Croxteth Hall. He stayed in service to the Earl, a well-known gourmet, for almost 20 years. Next, for the Duke of York, George III's second son. After the Duke's passing, Ude was taken on as Maitre d’ Hotel at Crockford's famous gaming club for a starting salary of 1200 pounds a year. The owner and founder, William Crockford, had a very interesting and colourful past. Online information has him as a fishmonger in Fleet Street with a sideline in bookmaking and such small-scale swindles as the three-card trick. He mastered whist, piquet, and cribbage, which consequentially made him rich. He also backed horses, and by 1809 he was a familiar figure at the races, which also brought into contact with the rich and famous. In 1816 he bought a quarter-share in a gambling tavern in St. Jame's, but Crockford realized that this tavern could only have a limited success. He knew that the most popular clubs were so because they were selective, and that if he wanted to compete with them he would have to plan on a much grander scale, and go all out to get the top people as members. So after winning a large sum of money (£100,000, according to one story) either at cards or just by running the gambling establishment, he built in 1827 a luxuriously decorated gambling house at 50 St. James's Street in London, also buying four adjoining houses around the corner. To ensure its social exclusiveness, he organized the place as a club with a regular membership. Crockford's Club, as it was called, quickly became the rage; almost every English celebrity from the Duke of Wellington on down hastened to become a member, as did many ambassadors and other distinguished foreigners. Into this refined atmosphere Ude was brought as maitre'd of the club's exquisite restaurant, where he stayed until 1839. His reputation was made. He offered the best food and the best wines, all provided gratis to the clients. Ude was eventually earning a huge salary of £4000 annually for his services – (the equivalent of £371,000 using the GDP deflator up to 2016). On quitting Crockfords, ironically in a dispute over his pay, he was succeeded by the equally famous chef Charles Elme Francatelli. Gambling houses were illegal at this time. Crockford was regularly charged with operating an illegal club but due to his protection in high circles he was never convicted. As a result of these and other investigations in 1844 by a Parliamentary Select Committee, the Gaming Act 1845 came into being, the principle provision of which was to deem a wager unenforceable as a legal contract. This remained in force until 1 September 2007. Crockford made a series of very poor investments and died on 24 May 1844 leaving little of his considerable fortune to his wife Sarah. The fortunes of Crockfords Club also went downhill immediately after his death; the building went through several hands before emerging with a cleansed reputation as the Devonshire Club. Ude’s vanity was so well known he may have been tickled to know that Mrs Beeton (who in her famous book, tried to offer cost effective recipes put together by over 2000 recipe researcher’s) offered only one recipe herself – Ude’s wildly expensive Turtle Soup recipe. It is assumed that the first recipe for soufflé appeared in Vincent La Chapelle’s book ‘Le Cuisinier Moderne, 1742. Actually the word soufflé first appeared in English in Ude’s ‘The French Cook’ 1813. The PRB&M Co. informs us - "Byron swiped the names of many of Ude's dishes for use in canto 15, stanzas 62–74 of “Don Juan,” and indeed two of Ude's suggested course progressions for stanza 63 (see p. 426)" - Fascinating ! He was buried at General Cemetery of All Souls, Kensal Green amongst princes and paupers, the great and the good, the famous and the infamous with over 1500 notable personalities -- including over 550 with entries in the Dictionary of National Biography as well as his great compatriot Alexis Soyer. No doubt he would feel at home.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11055

Menon. Louis Francois Henri de - In superb condition - as new.
The French Family Cook
BEING A complete System of French Cookery. Adapted to the Tables not only of the Opulent, but of Persons of moderate Fortune and Condition. CONTAINING Directions for choosing, dressing, and serving up all Sorts of Butcher Meat, Poultry, &c. The different Modes of making all kinds of Soups, Ragouts, Fricandeaus, Creams, Ratasias, Compots, Preserves, &c.&c. as well as a great Variety of cheap and elegant Side Dishes, calculated to grace a Table at a small Expence. Neccesary for Housekeepers, Butlers, Cooks, and all who are concerned in the Superintendence of a Family. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. LONDON: Printed for J. BELL, No. 148, Oxford Street, nearly opposite New Bond Street. M.DCC.XCIII.
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION 1793. 8vo. 2feps. Title Page. [1] 6pp Bills of Fare. (1)iv-xxiv Contents. (1)2-342. 2pp Advertisements. Fully bound in modern mid-brown calf, with 18th century style blind tooled panelled fillet on the boards with blind tooled line borders. Spine with raised bands and gilt lines, red label with gilt lettering. Internally extremely clean, as new. A rare item especially in this immaculate condition.
- Although no author is named on the title page, this is the first English translation of Menon's - La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, originally written in French, and published in Paris, 1746. Maclean notes a 4th edition of 1796 with an altered main title, although sub-titles unchanged. Menon's books excite a lot of interest but nothing was known of him, till very recently; Sophie of Sophie Schneideman Rare Books had an early two volume set of 'La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise' dated 1752. This set was the author’s own copy, signed on the first page. It was the copy from the Chateau de Villiers library according to small pen inscriptions on each title and tiny stamps on the first blanks. The first blank of the first volume bears the remarkable history of the book, written in ink in 1875. The story it relates is that the first owner of the book was Mrs. Menon. It next passed to Margueritte Menon, her daughter, who was married to Claude Dodant. The next recepient of the set was Anne Dodant, wife of Henri de Villemenard. Their son Charles de Villemenard next owned it, there-after going to to Marie de Villemenard and finally to the author of the note, Villiers. The note is initialed and dated. Interesting; this is now the most up-to-date information on Menon. Perhaps with this little bit, further relevant information can be garnered in the future. His books in French and English are much sought after and constitute an important addition to any cookery book collection.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10940

DE Bonnefons. Nicolas English translation by John Evelyn.
The French GARDINER
INSTRUCTING How to Cultivate all sorts of FRUIT-TREES, AND HERBS for the GARDEN: TOGETHER With directions to dry, and con-serve them in their natural: An accomplished Piece, Written Originally in French, and now Trans-lated into English. By JOHN EVELYN Esq; Fellow of the Royal Society. (a single long line) The third Edition illustrated with Sculptures. . (a single long line) `where unto is annexed, The English Vineyard Vindicated by John Rose, now Gardener to his Majesty: with a Tract of the making and ordering of Wines of France. (a single long line) LONDON. Printed by S.S. for Benj: Tooke at the Ship in St. Pauls Church-Yard, 1672
Small 8vo. 140x 90mm. 1&1/2 feps. An engraved additional pictorial title. [1] Title Page. [1] 3p Epistle Dedicatory by Evelyn. 3p To the Reader. [1] 1 engraved plate, (1)2-294. Title Page - 48p The English Vineyard. 12p The Table. 5p The Alphabetical Table. 2feps. 4 engraved plated (1 folding). Text block has occasional rimming at head with no loss. Occasional light spotting and very lightly browned. 18th century full sheep binding with nice patina. Head of spine cracked but holding. Simon BG 620; Wing B3601 & R1937; cf. Bitting p.48 & Livres en Bouche 120 (French editions)
- The first edition of the English Vineyard Vindicated was published in 1666 and is very rare as most copies are reputed to have perished in the Fire of London, This 3rd edition is a rare edition in commerce. There is a 4th edition of 1675. This was Evelyn's first horticultural work, which he dedicated to his friend Thomas Henshaw, at whose suggestion he had undertaken the translation. (See preceding item # 11294) for a full description of Nicolas de Bonnefons French edition of 'Le Jardinier Francois'. This gives a true background to John Evelyn's subsequent English translation.

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ref number: 11337

Carter. Susannah - A fantastic copy of a cookbook in its original state.
The Frugal Housewife
OR, Complete Womans Cook. WHEREIN THE ART OF DRESSING ALL SORTS OF VIANDS WITH CLEANLINESS, DECENCY AND ELEGANCE, IS EXPLAINED IN FIVE HUNDRED APPROVED RECEIPTS IN Gravies, Sauces, Roasting, Boiling, Frying, Broiling, Syllabubs, Creams, Flummery, Jellies, Giams, and Custards, TOGETHER WITH THE BEST METHODS OF Potting, Collaring, Preserving, Drying, Candying, Pickling, AND MAKING OF ENGLISH WINES; TO WHICH ARE ADDED TWELVE NEW PRINTS, Exibiting a proper Arangement of Dinners, Two Courses for every Month in the Year. WITH VARIOUS BILLS OF FARE. BY SUSANNAH CARTER, OF CLERKENWELL.LONDON: PRINTED FOR E. NEWBURY, THE CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD 1795.
The 3rd London edition. 12mo. Frontispiece (a Copper plate of Trussing) Title page. 6p The Index. 4p A Bill of Fare. 1p [1] a Copper plate of Trussing. [1] 2-180. 12p Woodcuts of Table Settings. Original publishers blue newspaper binding. Pages pristine and most uncut. Edges untrimmed, as issued. Housed in a handsome modern half black leather clam-shell box with black cloth boards. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and two bottle green labels with gilt lettering. A unique and rare copy.
- The first question that comes to mind when viewing this little book is, where has it been kept for over 200 years; to still be in this condition is wonderful. The original newspaper cover is quite delicate and a little faded and needs to be handled with care; hence the need to house it in the special clamshell box to protect it for the next 200 years. After buying a book, leather bindings had to be ordered from a binder and paid for separately. Not surprisingly publisher's and binder's establishments were often found in close proximity to each other. The 1st edition of Carter's cookery book was published, London, circa.1765. From the PRB&M Co. we learn "Although in its initial U.S. appearances, the Frugal Housewife was strictly oriented towards British cuisine and ingredients, it was later adapted and expanded for American housewives, and portions of the original publication directly formed the basis for the first American-authored cookbook: Amelia Simmons's American Cookery". The first American edition of The Frugal Housewife, printed without a date, was advertised by Edes & Gill in the Boston Gazette as “this day Published” on 2 March 1772. As an interesting side-note, Edes & Gill are best remembered as the most important printers in Boston during the American Revolution. In 1773, one year after publishing Carter's cookbook, they and their newspaper, the Boston Gazette, played a crucial role in sparking the Boston Tea Party.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10975

Child. Lydia Maria
The Frugal Housewife.
DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT ASHAMED OF ECONOMY.. BY MRS CHILD, AUTHOR OF THE "MOTHER'S BOOK" THE "LITTLE GIRL'S BOOK" ETC. A fat kitchen maketh a lean will - Franklin. "Economy is a poor man's revenue; extravagance a rich amn's ruin." Ninth Edition. CORRECTED AND ARRANGED BY THE AUTHOR. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, HINTS TO PERSONS OF MODERATE FORTUNE. SOME VALUABLE RECEIPTS. ETC. ETC. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T.T. AND J. TEGG, CHEAPSIDE; N. HAILES, PICADILLY; BOWDREY AND KERBY, OXFORD STREET; ALSO R. GRIFFIN AND CO. GLASGOW. 1832.
FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 12vo. Yellow paste-downs and end-papers at each end. 1fep. [1] Engraved frontispiece. Title page. [1] 1-172. 173-176 Index. 6 pages of very neat manuscript writing on the feps and paste-down. Original maroon calf boards with bright original gilt lettering "Mrs Child's Frugal Housewife 2s/6d." Sympathetically relaid smooth spine. Internally very clean. An excellent copy.
- This is a lovely and interesting book. The first edition (the Frugal Housewife) was published in America. 1929. Bitting informs us the title was deposited in the District Clerk's Office by David L. Child, the 12th day of November, 1829. Other editions cited by Lincoln are; the 2nd 1830; 4th, 5th, 6th,7th, all 1831; 8th, 1832. Because this edition, the 9th, was published in England, further American editions had the title changed to "The American Frugal Housewife" This new title reached thirty two editions by 1850. Oxford only cites the 15th English edition of 1835. Lownestien; p31, confusingly states that the name of the American edition was changed in 1832 because there was an "English book of the same name" She seems unaware that both the new 'American Frugal Housewife' and the English 'Frugal Housewife' were one and the same, albeit, published in two different countries. The confusion is even more widespread. Michigan State University Libraries have an essay on the 1830 American edition in their 'Historic American Cookbook Project'--'Feeding America' in their Digital Collections that states; "The Frugal Housewife was first published in Boston in 1829 and was reprinted at least four times in the next two years. By the eighth edition of 1832, the name had been changed to The American Frugal Housewife to differentiate it from the English work of Susannah Carter." Yes, Carter did publish a cookery book called 'The Frugal Housewife' but it is a totally different book that was first published sixty four years previously in 1765. Finally, after studying this copy being offered here, against the text of the facsimile copy of The American Frugal Housewife, twenty-ninth edition of 1844, with the introduction by Jan Longone, there is no doubt they are both different editions of the same book. Quite how an American cookery book, barely three years into publication, came to be printed in England, is a mystery on which this compiler would appreciate some clarity. Lowenstien p2, p25, p31.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 10907

Langham. William - The 1633 edition.
THE GARDEN OF HEALTH
CONTAINING THE sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of Simples and Plants. Together with the manner they are to bee vsed and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body, against diuers diseases and infirmities most common amongst men. Gathered by the long experience and industry onf WILLIAM LANGHAM. Practitioner in Physicke. The second Edition corrected and amended. LONDON, Printed by THOMAS HARPER, with permission of the Company of Stationers. M.DC.XXXIII.
4to. 198 x 148mm. 1fep with flowing script - George King senior and Thomas King junior 1703. Title page. [1] 2 pages To the Reader. 4 pages Table of Simples. (1)2-702. 66 pages of A Table. 2feps with George King in script dated 1653, and George Thrift 1709. The dense text printed mainly in gothic type and 'indices' at the end of the chapters in roman type.Text block nice and tight and uniformly age browned but all clearly legible. Original dark brown leather on boards with a skillfully relaid spine with raised bands and gilt lettering. Has a nice patina. The inside cover paste-downs not placed showing original boards and leather edging.
- William Langham's ‘Book of Health’ is a concise medicinal herbal with many recipes interwoven into the text. Langham devotes a chapter to each plant, describing its parts and their uses. To every item of information he added a number, and at the end of the chapter there is a table of conditions relating to the numbers in the text. For instance under Fennel, one of the longest entries there are 132 items of information, ranging from ‘Adder biting’ to ‘Yard ache’. Included is a discussion of almonds, anis, apples, artichokes, barley, basil, beans, beets, bread, butter, capers, cardamom, carrots, caraway, chestnuts, cinnamon, citrons, cloves, cockles, coriander, crab, cress, cucumber, currants; that’s just a selection taken from the A-Cs. With two general indexes, one consisting of a list of 421 simples. The other index is the converse of the lists at the end of individual plants, as it indicates the ills and diseases that can be helped by the use of the many different plants. For example, forty-eight plants were indexed under consumption and eighty-eight under colic, whilst 'lust to abate' merited twenty, with thirty-five to cause it. The table repeatedly lists 10,000 plants that can be used for more than 1,150 conditions and functions. Langham includes some American plants that had only recently reached Europe. He was not the first to use this system. Henry Lyte’s English translation of Dodoen’s famous herbal ‘The New Herbal’ of 1578, [see item 11078 on this site] has four separate indexes; one for classic Latin names of plants; one for apothecaries, the Arabs and modern herbalists; one for the English names; and the fourth a subject index of what plants could do. While the title must have been influenced by the 'Gart der Gesundheit' published by Johann Wonnecke of Kaub in 1485, or the '[H]Ortus Sanitatis', published by Jacob Meydenbach in Mainz Germany on 23 June 1491, the text is quite independent. Langham's very rare text is absorbing and interesting, and when checked against known modern remedies it is amazing how many are similar. Every page has nuggets of information that seem to transcend time. The first edition was published in London, 1579. In the exhibition catalogue "Four Hundred Years of English Diet and Cookery" at the Bancroft Library, it is noted that "This may be the first use of cross-referencing." Like the Lilly Library, the Bancroft has the second edition only.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11197

Woolley. Hannah - two incomplete copies, together making one whole.
The Gentlewomans Companion,
OR, A GUIDE TO THE Female Sex: CONTAINING Directions of Behaviour, in all Places, Companies, Relations and Conditions, form their Child-hood down to Old Age: VIZ. As, Children to Parents. Scholars to Governours. Single to Servants. Virgins to Suitors. Married to Husbands. Huswifes to the House. Mistress to Servants. Mothers to Children. Widows to the World. Prudent to all. With LETTERS & DISCOURSES upon all Occasions. Whereunto is added, A Guide fotr Cook-maids, Dairy-maids, chamber-maids, and all others that go to Service. The whole beingan exact Rule for the Female Sex in General. By HANNAH WOOLLEY. LONDON, Printed by A.Maxwell for Edward Thomas, at the Adam and Eve in Little-Brittan, 1675.
1ST BOOK: 16mo. 1 loose fep with manuscript signature. Title Page in red and black text with a double lined border. [1] 7p Epistle Directory. [1] 9p A Table. [1] 1-262. 5p Advertisements. [1] Only the back cardboard cover present but exposed. Original full dark calf binding, completely dis-bound. A 1" tear and crack on the spine. (Missing -- Frontispiece, I, I8, K8, L, R-R8. P159-160 has 2" tear on outer edge with some text loss. First 4p of the rear Advertisements). The text block is quite clean with minimal age browning and some minor tears without loss. A nice clean copy. 2ND BOOK: 16mo. 2fep. [1] Engraved Frontispiece cropped and laid down. Title page in red and black text, cropped to inside line of the 2 line border and laid down. [1] 5p Epistle Directory. [1] 9p A Table. [1] 1-262. 8p Advertisements. 2feps. (Missing - pA4 of Epistle Directory and the last page of the rear advertisements). Half dark calf with marbled boards with a sunned spine and gilt lettering. Text block age browned with the top of the pages cropped without loss. Both copies housed in a modern half mid-tan calf clam-shell box with mid-brown cloth boards. Lined with black felt cloth. The spine with raised bands and gilt lines. With two labels of red and green morocco with gilt lettering. Unusually Woolley's name spelled differently here from the 'Wolley' in her other book - 'The Queen-like Closet'.
- Woolley, (born 1623 - died circa 1675) was a writer who published early books on household management and was probably the first to earn their living doing this. Her mother and elder sisters were all skilled in ‘Physick and Chirurgery’ and she learned from them . Nothing is known of her father. From 1639 to 1646 Woolley worked as a servant for an unnamed woman, almost certainly Anne, Lady Maynard (died,1647), during which time she learned about medical remedies and recipes. She married Jerome Woolley, a schoolmaster, in 1646 and with him, ran a free grammar school at Newport, in Essex. This is very near the Maynard family's house at Little Easton. In the school she put into practice her skills at ‘physick’. A few years later, the Woolleys opened a school in Hackney, London. She had at least four sons and two daughters, and the marriage was remembered by Hannah as a happy one. Hannah was widowed in 1661 and from that year on began publishing books on household management. She covered such topics as: recipes, notes on domestic management, embroidery instruction, the etiquette of letter writing, medicinal advice, and perfume making. These proved to be very popular. Her first book The Ladies Directory was published at her own expense in 1661, and this was soon reprinted in 1664. Her second book The Cooks Guide, was printed at a her publisher's expense and is dedicated to Maynard's daughter, Lady Anne Wroth (1632–1677), and her own daughter Mary. Woolley earned a reputation as a successful physician, despite her amateur status and the unwelcoming environment for female medical practitioners at that time in history. She used her books as an advertisement for her skills and invited her readers to consult her in person. Woolley remarried in 1666 at St. Margaret's, Westminster, to Francis Challiner, a widower two years older than herself. But her second husband died before February 1669. Woolley's own date of death is unknown. Rather than try to make a made-up complete copy with the difference in cropped page sizes and varying paper colour, the two copies here have been kept as they are and housed together in a handsomely bound clamshell box. The first edition was published in 1673. Even though this is an unauthorized text based on Hannah's books, never the less it is still Woolley's work and extremely rare.

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Antiquarian category

ref number: 11130

NEWHAM-DAVIS. LIEUT.-COL. - A gastronomic tour of London 1914.
THE GOURMET'S GUIDE.
TO LONDON. BY LIEUT.-COL. NEWHAM-DAVIS. Author of 'The Gourmet's Guide to Europe" (small printer's device). LONDON GRANT RICHARDS LTD. PUBLISHERS
FIRST EDITION: 1914. 165 X 110 mm. 1fep. Half-title. Verso has frontis. Tissue guard then Title page. [1] 1p. Aphorism of Brillat Savarin. [1] 1p TO ALL GOOD GOURMETS. [1] ix - x Preface. xi - xiv Contents. xv List of four illustrations. [1] 1 - 386. 2feps. The text block very clean. Bound in a maroon cloth with gilt text on spine and front cover with bright gilt cartoon figure of a Maitre de Hotel. The whole book in excellent condition.
- Newham-Davis was an avid gastronome who checked out and dined at a huge number of London's eateries, hotels and restaurants. This was the time when Escoffier was ensconced at the Carlton Hotel on the corner of Haymarket and Pall Mall. One of the four illustrations in the book is a famous photograph of Escoffier, (see image #3 below) with a signed dedication to Newham-Davis [N-D]. One of the questions N-D was frequently asked is where is the best place in London to dine. He further states that he always replies with another question; "whom are you going to take out to dinner, because there are so many 'best places', If a man answers that he wishes to entertain some bachelors of his own ripe age and taste, where the food is excellent, the rooms comfortable and no band to interfere with conversation, then the diagnosis is a Cafe Royal one. Very astute. For a City Banquet he recommends on page 308 the Mercers Hall as most of his forbears had been of that guild. He explains in the beginning that he drank 1884 Pommery at one banquet and that his great-great-uncle who was Lord Mayor and Grandfather who was a very peppery and litigious old gentleman. His great uncle was in turn once the Master of the Company. On page 313 N-D goes to introduce himself the famous Mrs Rosa Lewis. She was known as the 'Queen of Cooks and the proprietress of the Cavendish Hotel that occupied three houses, 81 to 83 Jermyn St. He is given a shock on meeting Mrs Lewis. Due to his assumption that his family cook, whom he describes as a portly lady given to wearing church-going attire, he gets a huge shock on meeting Rosa Lewis. His vague ideas are shattered and sent spinning when a slim, graceful lady with a pretty oval face and charming eyes with hair just touched with grey. (see image #5 below). Her culinary skills were highly prized by Edward V11 with whom she was also rumoured to have had an affair. She tells N-D that her whole kitchen brigade consists of girls, believing that having accomplished woman cooks in the kitchen was far more preferable than having male chefs. She also tells of a dish of Quail pudding that is a big favourite of the KIng. N-D finally explains to Mrs Lewis that he considers she holds an equal and parallel position in the kitchen to that of the great French Maitre-Chef, Escoffier. Rosa replied that she admired him not only as a great cook but also as a great gentleman. This is an absorbing book of abundant factual detail, written very well by Lieut- Col Newham-Davis. He appears too be very well connected and a fascinating diligent net-worker. There is a slight gossipy edge to his observations that hold the attention admirably.

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Modern category

ref number: 11288