BRADSHAW'S VALUABLE FAMILY JEWEL,
BEING A STORE-HOUSE OF SUCH Curious Matters as All ought to be acquainted with, who intend to spend their lives either pleasant or profitable. Containing All that relates to CONFECTIONARY, COOKERY, PASTRY, PRESERVING, (with a small perpendicular line between) PICKLING, CORDIALS, MADE WINES, , BREWING &c. With a great Number of other Necessary Articles not to be met with in any other Book: Particularly, an excellent Method for the Management of a Beer-Cellar: How to keep Ale or Beer always exceeding Fine; and how to restore four Beer to its first Perfection; which Article has been of the utmost Service to the Purchasers of this Book. Likewise, an excellent Method to preserve a constant Stock of Yeast, even in the most scarce Seasons. In this Book is likewise inserted Mons. Millien's Method of preserving Metals from Rust, such as Guns, Grates, Candle-Sticks, &c. for the Discovery of which the Royal Academy of Paris gave him 10,000 l. (one long horizontal line) By Mrs. Penelope Bradshaw. (a second-long horizontal line) The Nineth [sic] Edition. [Price One Shilling.]
Small octavo. n/d circa 1747. 155 x 100 mm. Original inside cover and end-papers marbled. [1] 1fep. Title page. [1] 2p To the Reader. (1)vi-xi Index. (1)13-96. 2feps. Foxing or other spotting throughout; edges trimmed at an early date, just barely effecting text, but still full text is legible throughout. Early paper restoration to fore edge to pages of 49-56, again not effecting text. All in all, a handsome copy of a very scarce book.
- This book is as confusing as 'Edward Kidder's Receipts of Pastry and Cookery', to bibliographically ascertain publishing dates. Maclean on page 14 states the earliest known edition of this work is the 10th edition which was "certainly" printed in 1748. Then confusingly she notes no edition before the her stated fifth (with very large additions included within the 136 pages) of 1749. Then to top it all off, she has a stated 6th ed also "certainly" printed in 1749 and has a sixth of 1754. She also assumes; "Mrs. Bradshaw could have been misusing edition numbers to imply by 1748 that she had written a work that was much in demand". Given that the some editions appeared in earlier years, it is quite possible that the publishers began with a late edition number either to make the book sound more popular to the buying public, or if the recipes were lifted from other authors thus avoiding accusations of plagiarism by claiming that Bradshaw's book had already appeared earlier. All editions are rare with only three auction records cited for all editions. [OCLC locates ten copies of all editions, and just one copy (LOC) of this edition; ESTC N65042; Bitting, page 56; citing this edition (LOC copy); Cagle 575 (see notes); Maggs Bros, Catalogue 582; not in Oxford nor Vicaire. Villinova University Library includes 1748, 1749 & 1751 editions. The Wellcome Collection has a 1749 ed. Penn State University Library has a 12th ed.of 1749. Australian Libraries has a 10th ed of 1748. Because of the mind-boggling variance in dated editions, this stated ninth can possibly be dated 1747 or earlier.
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Antiquarian category
ref number:
11333