Frugal Housewife, The

London: Printed for T.T. and J. Tegg, 1833. The Standard American Cook Book of it's Time"

CHILD, Mrs. The Frugal Housewife. Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy. Tenth Edition. Corrected and arranged by the author. To which are added, hints to persons of moderated fortune. Also, by the English editor, some valuable domestic receipts, etc. London: Printed for T.T. and J. Tegg, 1833.

Twelvemo. (5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches; 140 x 89 mm.). [ii, title], [1]-176 pp. Engraved pictorial frontispiece.

Publisher's maroon scored calf, front cover lettered in gilt, spine ruled in gilt, lavender endpapers. Top of spine and corners a little worn, otherwise an excellent copy.

Originally published in Boston in 1829, but the title was changed in 1832 to The American Frugal Housewife, so as not to be confused with Susannah Carter's Frugal Housewife. The omission of "American" from the title of all of these Tegg printings of this work inclines this cataloguer to believe this was just a convenient text to reprint in the UK, with no effort made to emphasize the book's American origins. The frontispiece depicts "The Frugal Housewife", cookbook in hand, directing her cook.

OCLC/KVK locate just one copy of this edition in libraries and institutions worldwide: The British Library (UK).

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, poet, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals, reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories. Her most successful work was The Frugal Housewife. Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of Economy. The book contained mostly recipes, but also contained this advice for young housewives, "If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money.... Begin humbly." First published in 1829, the book was expanded and went through 33 printings in 25 years. Child wrote that her book had been "written for the poor ... those who can afford to be epicures will find the best of information in the Seventy-five Receipts" by Eliza Leslie. Child changed the title to The American Frugal Housewife in 1832 to end the confusion with the British author Susannah Carter's The Frugal Housewife first published in 1765, and then printed in America from 1772. Child wrote that Carter's book was not suited "to the wants of this country". To add further confusion, from 1832 to 1834 Child's version was printed in London and Glasgow. She did continue to write for many newspapers and periodicals during the 1840s, and she promoted greater equality for women. However, because of her negative experience with the American Anti Slavery Society, she never worked again in organized movements or societies for women's rights or suffrage. In 1844, Child published the poem "The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day" in Flowers for Children, Volume 2, that became famous as the song "Over the River and Through the Wood