THE ITALIAN CONFECTIONER
OR. Complete Economy of Desserts: CONTAINING THE Elements of the Art, ACCORDING TO THE MOST MODERN AND APPROVEDPRACTICE. FULL AND EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS, RESPECTING DISTILLATION, DECORATION, AND MODELLING, IN ALL THEIR BRANCHES INCLUDING FIGURES, FRUITS, FLOWERS, AND ANIMALS, IN Gum Paste: AND THE ART OF MOULDING, CASTING, AND GILDING COMPOSITION PASTES OF NEW AND SUPERIORN QUALITY. THE WHOLE COMPRISING EVERY INFORMATION REQUISITE TO FORM THE COMPLETE CONFECTIONER, AND TO ENABLE HIM TO ARRANGE THE EMBELLISHEMNTOF THE TABLE WITH TASTE AND ELEGANCE. (a small horizontal line) By G. A. JARRIN. Ornamental Confectioners, AT Messrs. GUNTERS, in Berkeley Square. . (a small horizontal line) LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN HARDING, 36, ST. JAMES'S STREET (a small horizontal line) 1820.
FIRST EDITION. 240 x 150 mm. 2 feps. [1]Frontispiece on verso. Title page. (1) -vi Dedication to Robert Gunter. Preface viii - xi. [1] Contents (1)xiv - xxiv. (1)2 - 262. Index (1)264 - 272. 2 folding plates (strengthened) with slight foxing, of 37 utensils and apparatus. Description of the Plates ((1)274 - 280. 2 feps. Grey Cardboard covers, Cream coloured paper spine with printed label. Elizabet David's bookplate on front pastedown. McKirdy's 'Books for Cooks' small label to back pastedown. One corner of the front-cover a little worn. All pages original and un-trimmed. A clean copy in fine condition. Rare at auction, especially coming from Elizabeth David's library.
- In the dedication to Robert Gunter Esq. Jarrin signs off as Guglielmo Jarrin. In later editions his name is changed to Willian Alexis Jarrin. He was born in Colorno, Italy on 25th March 1784. He arrived in England in 1817 and published the 1st edition just three years later by 1820. The book sits comfortably within an English tradition of publishing recipes for food and confectionery, but it reveals more about the techniques involved and about the character of the author, than was previously usual in the genre. 'The Epicure's Almanack' of 1815 informs us that there were many high-class confectioners in London's smart West-end streets. One of the more famous being Gunter's of Berkley Square. Jarrin was employed there for some time and it played a significant part in his career. On the verso of the 'Italian Confectioner' title page of the 3rd edition, there is an advertisement for 'The French Cook' by Louis Eustache Ude where we are informed that Ude's book is an 'Invaluable Companion to Jarrin's Italian Confectioner'. Ude was the famous Chef de Cuisine of Crockfords Club, which was just 300 yards from Gunters confectionery shop. It was/is common for Chefs then and even still today, to visit each other on their afternoon break in the middle of their daily split shifts. Jarrin's book is an elegant production with many precise, good and unusual recipes. The Italian Confectioner was reprinted at least ten times (the last in 1861, after his death), and was updated with new material on several occasions. Earlier editions incorporated small but often telling additions: for example, observations on managing ice-wells and the introduction of new instruments such as the saccharometer. For the 1844 edition he undertook a major reorganization of the material and added many new recipes" (ODNB). It is an important item in any collection of cookery books. Cagle 776 ; Oxford p.149; cf. Bitting pp.244- 245.
click on image to enlarge
Antiquarian category
ref number:
10973