Raffald.   Elizabeth    
The Experienced English Housekeeper,
FOR THE USE AND EASE OF or the Use and Ease of Ladies, House-keepers, Cooks etc. Written purely from PRACTICE, DEDICATED TO THE Hon. Lady ELIZABETH WARBURTON, Whom the Author lately served as House-keeper. Consisting of several Hundred Original Receipts, most of which never appeared in Print. PART 1. Lemon Pickle, Browning for all Sorts of Made-Dishes, Soups, Fish, plain Meat, Game Made Dishes both hot and cold, Pies, Puddings etc, PART 11. 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 111. Pickling, Potting, and Collaring, Wines, Vinegars, Catchups, Distilling, with two 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. A NEW EDITION. In which are inserted some celebrated Receipts by other modern Authors. London: Published and sold by the BOOKSELLERS, and by T. Wilson and R. Spence, Printers, High-Ousgate, York. Anno 1806.
8vo. 3feps. title page. [1] Frontispiece engraved portrait of Mrs Raffald. [1] p2. Dedication. (1)vi-vii Preface to the first edition. 1p Description of plates. 1 folding plate showing designs for stoves and 2 engraved folding plates showing table settings. (1)2-369. p370-383. p383-384 Directions for a Grand Dinner. (1)386-397 Index. [1] 3 feps. Half mid-tan calf with marbled boards. The spine with raised bands and black calf label with gilt writing. Inside uniformly age-browned. Overall a nice copy.
- 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 was an extremely industrious woman. Besides bearing fifteen daughters , she was a confectioner, owned a shop and ran a cookery school from it. After publishing her book she took over two famous Inns in Manchester and Salford. On top of this she helped found Salford's first newspaper - Prescott's Journal and became adviser to, and part-owner of Harrup's Mercury. She also found time to compile the first Manchester Directory - indefatigable! Cagle p687, records two similar copies printed by the same printers but dated 1801 & 1803. Oxford cites an 1805 edition but none mentions this one of 1806. Irritatingly, neither Maclean, Cagle nor Oxford informs us when the edition with the portrait frontis was first published.

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ref number: 11137