The Experienced English Housekeeper,
For the Use and Ease of Ladies, House-keepers, Cooks etc. Wrote purely from PRACTICE, And dedicated to the Hon. Lady ELIZABETH WARBURTON, Whom the Author lately served as House-keeper. Consisting of near 800 Original Receipts, most of which never appeared in Print. PART FIRST, Lemon Pickle, Browning for all Sorts of Made Dishes, Soups, Fish, plain Meat, Game Made Dishes both hot and cold, Pyes, Puddings etc, PART SECOND, All Kind of Confectionary, particularly the Gold and Silver Web for covering of Sweetmeats, and a Desert of Spun Sugar, with Directions to set out a Table in the most elegant Manner and in the modern Taste, Floating Islands, Fish Ponds, Transparent Puddings, Trifles, Whips, etc. PART THIRD, Pickling, Potting, and Collaring, Wines, Vi-negars, Catchups, Distilling, with most valuable Receipts, one for refining Malt Liquors, the other for curing Acid Wines, and a correct List of every Thing in Season in every Month of the Year. By ELIZABETH RAFFALD. MANCHESTER: St Paul's Church-yard, London; and by Eliz. Raffald, Confectioner, near the Exchange, Manchester, 1769. The Book to be signed by the Author's own Hand-writing, and entered at Stationers Hall.
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. 1fep. title page. [1] p2. Dedication. 1-111. To the Reader. [1] [1] 2-360. One engraved folding plate showing tale settings. 361-362. Directions for a Grand Table. 2nd engraved folding plate showing table settings. 1-X1. Index. 1fep. Full original contemporary dark brown calf. The spine has been re-bound with raised bands and gilt lines. Internally lightly browned throughout. A fair copy of the very rare first edition.
- As stated in the title page, this book is signed 'Eliz. Raffald' in ink on page one. The English Housekeeper was published in twelve editions and at least thirty impressions. Elizabeth Whittaker Raffald (1733-81) was after Hannah Glasse, the most celebrated English cookery writer of the 18th century. She was employed for fifteen years as Housekeeper to Lady Elizabeth Warburton of Arley Hall, Cheshire, to whom she dedicates her book. She sold all the rights to her book to a London publisher for £600.oo. Ironically, substantially less in today's money for one copy of the first edition. Many key authors of this time signed their books as a true distinction that set them clearly apart from other pirated copies. This is one such copy.
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Antiquarian category
ref number:
10984