A PLAIN COOKERY BOOK FOR THE WORKING CLASSES.
BY CHARLES ELME FRANCATELLI, LATE MAITRE D'HOTEL AND CHIEF COOK TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. AUTHOR OF "THE MODERN COOK" AND "THE COOK'S GUIDE." LONDON; GEORGE ROUTELEDGE AND SONS, THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. 2. A 4 PAGE PAMPHLET FOR ROBINSON'S "PATENT" GROATS. BY THE LATE C.E. FRANCATELLI, ex MAITRE d'HOTEL TO HER LATE MAJESTY.
FIRST EDITION - 1862: 154x101x10mm. 12mo. A tipped-in new end-paper and fep. 4p. Advertisements. [1] Frontispiece. Title page. [1] (1)10-11 Introduction. [1] (1)14-101. (1)103-105. [1] p22 Advertisements. A tipped-in new fep and end-paper. Original cloth cover with blue printed lettering. A little soiled but still legible. Housed in a clam-shell box, dark brown half calf with matching brown cloth boards and calf corners. Raised bands with gilt lines. Two labels, green and red with gilt lettering. A rare copy in the original state. ITEM 2. 134x83mm. 4 cream coloured pages. Direction for use. Two of the four pages are recipes by Francatelli. Condition as new.
- In 1852, Francatelli got the food company Brown and Polson to be a sponsor of this book. In return, he gave Brown and Polson space for a large advertisement at the back, and mentioned their products by name in several of the recipes. This little volume is by far the scarcest of all Francatelli's books. It was a novel and astute idea for a popular cookery book, and was very popular with poorer people who could not afford the recipes of the cook books recording the abundant consumption of the landed gentry in their great houses. In 1854, Soyer published his equally famous little book 'A Shilling Cookery for the People' that one suspects was his response and reaction to the popularity of Francatelli's original effort, which also became over time much scarcer than Soyer's. It is easy to see why. The delicate stitching, the easily soiled covers coupled with the relative simplicity of the recipes, plus the fact they were viewed as booklets rather than books, ensured they were not overly valued. Most likely stored badly in a kitchen drawer or shelf and not considered worthy of a place of relative safety next more expensive and cherished books. This is reflected in the fact that they are very rare in the complete state and much valued by collectors. Giving this item more value is the small 4 pages of recipes by Francatelli for groats. These four pages of ephemera, especially the two pages with Francalli's recpes are as collectable as finding one of his menus or one of his books with signature. This is as rare as the enclosed cookery book.
click on image to enlarge
Antiquarian category
ref number:
10958