•  Bitting 166–67; Cagle, A Matter of Taste, 691 (for fourth ed.). Contemporary mottled sheep, recently rebacked in complementary fashion, preserving the original gilt-stamped leather spine label; sides and edges worn, with abrasions. Title-page with stray small ink markings; half-title and title-page with outer edges darkened. A few leaves with spots of light staining; two lower corners torn away, and a number of others dog-eared. Pages mostly clean — this is overall an attractive copy.

This is anuncommonly nice copy, still housed in its original publisher's box, which features the front cover image reproduced in color.

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Publisher's spiral-bound wrappers, front wrapper color-printed with image of Dutch girls baking, in publisher's box (as above); one edge of box rubbed and corners of box bottom reinforced. Front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription and pencilled date (March 24, 1956). A clean, fresh, virtually unworn copy — and very uncommon as such.  (29584)

These books feature a grand total of 114 full-color plates depicting all the dishes. The glossy double-sided plates are divided sectionally in vol. I, gathered at the beginning of vol. II, and grouped as prospective dinner menus in vol. III; all three volumes are additionally illustrated with black-and-white photographic images from Pei-Mei's career.

•  Vol. I: Publisher's brightly color-printed paper–covered boards, vols. II and III in publisher's original dust wrappers over green and yellow cloth, respectively; vol. I with moderate shelfwear to edges and extremities, vol. II wrapper with extremities rubbed and a few small edge nicks, vol. III wrapper with spine extremities chipped and small scuff to back joint. Front free endpaper of vol. I with inked gift inscription dated 1977. Pages of vols. II and III very clean and white, vol. I slightly age-toned but otherwise clean. Very attractive copies of a set seldom found all volumes together.  (30289)

The subject of this work is the rivalry between Spain and France for political and religious supremacy in the Catholic realm of Europe, but the author also discusses national traits, as he sees them, such as manner of dressing, walking, eating, and talking.

•  Palau 97802.   Recent boards covered with marbled paper; leather spine label gilt with title. Some lower margins irregular due to natural paper flaws. All edges speckled red. A very good copy.  (25812)

English brewers

•:  Removed from a volume and resewn. A clean copy.

BEER has its own gathering — click here.
And WINE has one also — click here.

Many of the recipes in the first portion of this book are attributed to such well-known names as Glasse, Raffald, and Mason. Oxford points out that both the extended subtitle and the overall contents of the work as a whole are strikingly similar to Mary Cole's Lady's Complete Guide of 1791, commenting “One wonders who was the real author.” Whatever its origins, the present volume as attributed to Hazlemore is now uncommon: WorldCat, ESTC, and Cagle cite only seven U.S. institutional holdings.

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with ownership inscription and title-page with pressure-stamp of prominent cookbook collector Eloise Schofield; title-page also with early inked inscription of Charlotte Booty; front pastedown with early ticket of J. Rackham, a late 18th-/early 19th-century printer and bookseller in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.

•  ESTC T93869; Cagle, Matter of Taste, 734; Oxford, English Cookery, 122. Not in Bitting.   Incomplete copy. Contemporary treed sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, scuffed; spine label and extremities chipped, joints open and volume tender, front cover with spots of insect damage extending through to upper inner margins of first few leaves, touching two letters of title but no other text. Pp. 331/32, 341–44, 357–62, and 365–84 excised with great neatness (and no, we cannot work out any theory of “why”). Scattered instances of early pencilled or inked marginal annotations, including alternate instructions in two cases anda full recipe for dressed spinach inked at the end of the vegetables section, intended to replace the crossed-out printed recipe provided. Pages age-toned, otherwise clean. An incomplete copy, priced accordingly, of a still interesting work.  (29554)

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 2589i.   Publisher's gray cloth, front cover with title and maid vignette stamped in navy, spine with title likewise; patches of mild discoloration and spine moderately darkened. Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription of E.J. [possibly T.?] Robinson, Smith College, 1905; front endpapers smudged. Sewing starting to loosen slightly, text block just starting to crack at one signature but holding. One page with faint smudges, almost entirely confined to lower margin, pages otherwise clean. Overall an eminently readable copy of an insightful examination of early 20th-century domestic labor.  (30643)

The authorial juxtaposition here is interesting, given that Kellogg and his former teacher Trall had a bitter falling-out; prior to that, both had been sponsored and supported by Ellen White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 1717.   Publisher's textured brown cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title and small fountain vignette; mildly worn and spine lightly sunned, sides with small faint spots of light discoloration. Title-page with partially obscured rule. Occasional light foxing.  (30195)

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Folded as issued. Slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (26095)

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Publisher's printed paper wrappers, slightly age-toned, back upper outer corner minutely chipped. A clean, fresh copy — a fine one.  (26065)

true first edition of the unofficial second series

Food is a recurring topic (“A Dissertation upon Roast Pig”)

The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823. The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume, and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.

•  Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346.   Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides, covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound. Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown, front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered sides and gilt-stamped spine.  (26434)

This is the original edition andnot a modern reprint.

•  Bitting 273; Brown, Culinary Americana, 2914.   Publisher's textured paper wrappers, front wrapper with printed title; extremities rubbed. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.A delightfully aspirational read.  (29727)

•  Folded as issued. Very good condition.  (26013)

Five Thousand Receipts was first printed in America in 1826, and enjoyed as enthusiastic a reception in the United States as it previously had in England. This is the fourth American edition, here in the Kay variant giving “122 Chestnut Street – near 4th” as the publisher's address.

Provenance: Francis Kelsey, New York City.

•  Bitting 299; Lowenstein 122; Shoemaker 39366.   Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorations; worn and abraded, joints open and fragile, front cover darkened, leather lost at spine extremities. Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription; front fly-leaf with small hole and pencilled annotations. Pages with varying degrees of age-toning and spotting, several signatures deeply browned. Some corners dog-eared. One leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of a few words; one leaf with tear from lower margin extending into text without loss; one leaf with internal closed tear, without loss. Used, as this usually was!  (27405)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Publisher's green pebbled cloth, front cover stamped in yellow; spine reinforced with cloth tape, tape now rubbed and splitting. Title-page with updated contact information on affixed label covering original printed publisher's information. A number of leaves with grey discoloration in upper margins; otherwise, a clean copy of a somewhat unusual item.  (26240)

132 well-filled pages

Near the end of the book is a full-page drawing of an apparatus labeled “percolater,” which looks suspiciously like a still, followed by three pages of notes on French measures. This last set of memoranda may suggest that Mayer did not grow up with those measures, and that he might have been English is suggested by the fact that English words appear sprinkled throughout while four leaves are written entirely in that language.

A ten-centimes ticket to the Tuileries and an advertisement for a means of reproducing engravings are laid in among the pages.

•  Original quarter sheep over blue marbled boards, with paper label on front cover; spine and board edges worn, hinges (inside) open. Previous owner's inscription and pressure-stamp on endpaper. All text is written in a clear but not entirely consistent hand, the English-language recipes and two others in bright blue (as opposed to the book's “regular” brown) ink.  (2551)

•  Publisher's tan cloth, front cover with title and Art Nouveau decorative design (unsigned) stamped in brown and dark blue; spine and front cover with a trio of tiny spots and edges significantly darkened, the discoloration just touching outer edges of title stamping. Pages still clean; children's pictures still adorable.  (29815)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 2819g (for 1922 first ed.).   Publisher's printed paper wrappers; spine and edges mildly sunned, otherwise clean and all but unworn. Light offsetting to four pages from laid-in recipe clippings. Nice.  (29158)

250 recipes making use of slow cooking

•  Bitting 326 (for 1909 & 1911 eds.); Brown, Culinary Americana, 2637 (first ed. only). Not in Cagle & Stafford.   Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black with title and images of fireless cookers; mild rubbing to extremities, very faint scratches to back cover. Front hinge (inside) with small area of insect damage near head. A clean, solid copy.  (30292)

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 2397; Cagle & Stafford 894.   Sewn in publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers; wrappers with spots of light staining, upper outer corner bumped (carrying through first 14 pp.). Pages age-toned, otherwise clean. A solid, clean copy of an item ephemeral in nature.  (30677)

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth, front cover with black-stamped title and gilt-stamped vignette of an 18th-century mob-capped lady tasting from a steaming cauldron.

•  Bitting 337 (for first ed.); Brown, Culinary Americana, 2452 (likewise). Not in Cagle & Stafford.   Binding as above, minimal rubbing to extremities. Back pastedown with 19th-century Brentano ticket. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. A very nice copy.  (30093)