Good Things by Grigson, Jane - 1971

Grigson, Jane. Good Things. [FIRST EDITION - US] Alfred A Knopf: New York, 1971. 8vo (230x165mm) HC xii,368,xvi,pp.(illustrated by M J Mott; edited with American notes by Evan Jones) VG/VG- dj spine lightly faded, owner inscription to ffep

FIRST EDITION - US

8vo (230x170mm) hardcover white, burgundy & green pictorial boards, top edges yellow [2],xii,368,xvi,[2]pp; deckle cut edges.  Edited and with American notes by Evan Jones; drawings by M J Mott.

Near Fine.  Slight edge wear to dust jacket spine head, light fold to rear flap, spine lightly sunned; previous owner name to front free-end paper; text block tight, crisp and clean.

Grigson was an influential British food writer of the late C20th.  Good Things was Grigson's second book.  In 1967, Charcuterie & French Pork Cookery was published to strong reviews and critical acclaim.  Partly on the strength of the success of her first book, and partly because of a recommendation from Elizabeth David, in 1968, Grigson began writing cookery articles for the Observer.  Good Things is a collection of pieces from her first two years of weekly columns.  She continued as the Observer's food writer until her death in 1990.

From the introduction:
"This is not a manual of cookery but a book about enjoying food.   Few of the recipes in it will contribute much to the repertoire of those who like to produce dinner for six in thirty minutes flat.   I think food, its quality, its origins, its preparation, is something to be thought about in the same way as any other aspect of human existence."

Grigson received three Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards and two Andre Simon Awards for her writing during her life and her work has been described as transformative and empowering.   In 1992 the International Association of Culinary Professionals introduced the Jane Grigson Award, to honour "a book that exemplifies Jane Grigson's extraordinary ability to put food in a wider cultural context, using diligent but not pedantic scholarship"

A very nice copy of an important work that is a delight to cook from.