Cooking

Paris: Michel David, 1711. Octavo, [6], 536, [8] pages. Frontispiece, five leaves of folding plates. Second printing of the First Edition. Michel David issued the title originally in 1710. A compilation of two seventeenth century works by Nicolas de Bonnefons, here issued under a royal privilege granted to Louis Liger, sieur d'Auxerre (1658-1717). The work is divided into four books, the first three concerning cooking, the fourth dealing with gardening, and with an additional brief treatise on hunting and fishing. Liger's compilation of de Bonnefons' work continued to be revised and reissued after his death and well into the eighteenth century. And rightly so. De Bonnefons' work recognizes the primacy of excellent ingredients. The final section is considered to be the first work on the kitchen garden. John Evelyn, who translated the work in 1658, called it "the first and best work of that kind that introduced the use of the olitorie garden to any purpose." Contemporary full-calf, compartmented spine… Read More

Amsterdam: De Spieghel, 1927. Portfolio (29 x 21cm), [48] pages, with twenty one hand-colored plates, all on a sturdy, thick card stock . FIRST EDITION, limited & signed, Roman numeral III of seven copies in portfolio form, signed by Bodenheim. There was also a state with 100 copies, in book form, bound in a Japanese style and printed on Japon Van Gelder. Rhymes by Lizzy Ansingh, with drawings by Nelly Bodenheim of anthropomorphic fruits, nuts and vegetables, including lemons, grapes, pears, radishes, red pepper, almonds, blackberries, apricots, cherries and leeks. The vignette on the folio and many of the plates appear not printed at all but rather were entirely done by hand. The illustrations are rich in color and originality, with a naive style and an accessible, wry humor. Bodenheim was a popular book illustrator in the Netherlands in the early twentieth century and she and Ansingh teamed up on numerous projects. Plates well preserved and clean. The folio ledger has light soiling on its boards… Read More

Contains announcements to home economics teachers with how to order the lessons along with revised score cards of Miss Bevier University of Illinois and references such as The Boston Cooking School. No writing in the notes pages. Includes: 1. A Lesson on Modern Cake Baking 1921 (Cover discolored) 2. Modern Biscuit Baking 1923 3. A Monograph on Muffins 1923 (large stain on back cover of #2 and cover of #3. 4. Deep Fat Frying A Lesson in Monograph Form 1923 5. A Lesson on Waffles and Griddle Cakes 1923 6. A Model Home Kitchen 1926 (several bent bottom page corners) 7. Pastry Baking 1925 8. A Monograph on Cookies 1926. (Back end page of book has a creased corner which affected several previous pages. The last couple of pages have some edgewear and crinkles at the top.)
Hard cover has some edge and corner wear and some stains.

New York: D. D. Smith, 1805. First Edition. Hardcover. Lacking the endpapers; small chip at the top of the spine. A clean, attractive, unsophisticated copy in original binding of a scarce and important book. Twentyfourmo (3-3/8" x 5-3/8") bound in original full sheep leather with gilt rules on the spine; 180 pages. The second American cookbook, preceded by Amelia Simmons's much better known AMERICAN COOKERY, printed four times before the publication of this volume, which is much scarcer than the Simmons. It is also distinguished as the first American cookbook published in New York. In addition to the recipes for broiling, hashing, preserving, pickling, fricasees, soups, puddings, pies, etc., there are 20 pages devoted to the making of wine, quite early for an American book. Bitting page 581: "There are some unusual recipes, one for spinach, a forerunner for the spinach of today, cooking with no added water, garnished with poached eggs, and unusual for that period; oranges cut in quarters."… Read More

Paris, 1953. One and one half page pen and ink letter (26.5 x 21.5 cm.) on single sheet of pale blue Paul Cushing Child stationery, with ink date stamp ("May 18 1953"), addressed, "USIS. 5 Place de Rome, Marseille (B du Rh)". ~ An early letter from Julia Child, written while she was living in Paris with her husband Paul and working on her first book, the seminal Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Child writes to a Mrs. Fairbanks: "What a nice hour we spent with you the other afternoon. I only wish it could be repeated, as I would love to hear more about Thomas Wolfe and all you know about him. It would also be fascinating for me to hear much much more about your culinary experiences. Mrs. de Santillana [Child's editor] says you are the best cooks she knows, and I can well believe it from the interest you take. It is indeed a fascinating subject and a beau métier. Had a nice talk about friture de cheval pour les frites [possibly french fries cooked in horse fat] with your chauffeur on the way home… Read More

Madison, Tenn: Kitty's Cook Book Co, 1964. Softcover in good condition. Photo portrait of Wells on front cover, 34 pages, 28cm tall, quarto, recipe index. Includes 2 articles illustrated with photos of Wells, Johnny Wright, and family. Kitty Wells signature on front cover. Covers have separated from publisher's single spine staple, light soil and small corner crease to the covers.

322 Old Dixie Recipes. Compiled and Edited by Lillie S. Lustig, S. Claire Sondheim, Sarah Rensel. Decorations by H. Charles Kellum. 48 pp. 23,5x16 cm. Culinary Arts Press, 1939.
--- Wooden covers, curved and painted. B&W illustrations. Unmarked.

Handsomely rebound in half morocco over marbled boards; 5 raised bands; gilt particulars to spine. xl, 288 pp. 4 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches.

Japan: Yokohama Seishi Bunsha, 1895. First Edition. Rare English-language guide to Japanese domestic wares, with 76 fully-illustrated items. Its publication came at a time when Japan was experiencing a dramatic shift from the conservative, isolationist policies of the sh gun-dominated Edo period to the rapid and widespread drive to modernise and engage with the rest of the world that characterizes the Meiji Restoration. This booklet focuses on a traditional domestic interior and features a beautiful double-page plate showing the layout and arrangement of a Japanese period home, showing respective zones for food preparation, cooking and the entertainment of guests. Items specifically illustrated and described include lacquer wares, a charcoal-burning stove, lanterns, wooden buckets and items used in the tea ceremony. A beautiful copy of a scarce work published for the English market. Bibliography: Not in Cordier or Nipponalia.; Rogala Jozef 'A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English', 783.… Read More

Golden Press, NY, 1969. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition with stated first printing, 1969. No owner's name or other markings, just a touch of rubbing to the cover corner tips. Title page torn at each of the five metal rings, otherwise solid Very Good copy; The number 9800 is printed to the top of the spine, yellow printed endpaper with info on herbs and spices, [1-6] 7-480pp, index. Color & B&W photos of prepared dishes. Fool-proof recipes and kitchen tips, cooking and shopping hints. An excellent compilation of over 1600 recipes dating from the late 1960s.

Meredith Publishing Company, 1953. Binder Condition: Fine. No Jacket as Issued. Five (5) Ring Binder. Stated First Edition, fifth printing. 416 pp +four bonus pages of recipes clipped from the Better Homes & Gardens magazine with dates of March 1949; January, 1950; November, 1956; and February, 1957. Small tear on page 59 caused by a paperclip that was removed. Text is lightly tanned typical of age and edges are lightly sunned. No written notations within although a few recipes are marked with a small checkmark. 20 numbered pink card stock chapter index tabs including an index. Loose-leaf binder with 5 metal rings in excellent like new condition; all pages are original and are clean and complete. Card stock binder protector after index. This edition has illustrated front and back endpapers, with pink temperature and measurement charts and a full color photograph of a blue and white rolling pin and several pies, which is continued onto the title page. This is a classic, rare copy in Fine… Read More

St. Louis, MO: [the author]; A.C. Clayton Printing Co, 1931. Octavo (20.5 x 14 cm.), [32], 395 pages. Illustrated with chapter silhouettes and with a dust jacket design by Marion Rombauer. FIRST EDITION, privately published by the author in an edition of 3000 copies, and illustrated by the author's daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker, who also designed the dust jacket depicting St. Martha of Bethany, the patron saint of cooking, who took up a mop to fend off the dragon Tarasque. Irma von Starkloff Rombauer, the daughter of Max von Starkloff, an affluent St. Louis doctor, studied art at Washington University, and enjoyed a brief romance with the writer Booth Tarkington before marrying Edgar Rombauer, a lawyer, in 1899. As she wrote in her introduction to The Joy of Cooking, "Will it encourage you to know that I was once as ignorant, helpless and awkward a bride as was ever foisted on an impecunious young lawyer? Together we placed many a burnt offering upon the altar of matrimony." After her husband… Read More

Alice B. Toklas - The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book; illustrations by Sir Francis Rose - London, Michael Joseph, 1954 - First Edition - Hardcover - 288pp - 23x15cmCondition Good: Cover worn and faded. Throughout the book some signs of use: this book really has been used but all pages are clean, no names or writing, binding good. Alice Babette Toklas (1877-1967) was the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein. They lived together as part of the Parisian avant-garde from the day they met in 1907 until Stein's death. Between the wars, their Paris home was a salon for the leading writers and artists of the day, including Ernest Hemingway, Alfred North Whitehead, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Thornton Wilder, Sherwood Anderson, Matisse, Gris, Braque and Ford Maddox Ford. This book contains a melange of reminiscences and recipes, celebrating the food and kitchen aspects of Toklas' life with Gertrude Stein and contains the Surrealist artist Brion Gysin's infamous recipe for hashish fudge (expurgated… Read More

Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. New York, 1963. Hardcover. First Edition, no printing edition shown, presumed first printing. Condition: Fine. No dust jacket. 805 pp. Text white, clean and unmarked. No prior owner attribution. Orange paper front and rear pastedown and endpaper showing drawing of a lobster.Like new inside and out.

Consolidated Book Publishers, Inc., Chicago, 1943. Condition: Fair. Wartime Edition with victory substitutes and economical recipes for delicious wartime meals. 816 pp to original book, plus eight pages on Wartime Cookery and 64 pages on How To Feed a Family of Five on $15.00 Per Week. Book has been recovered with orange vinyl cloth to keep all pages intact. Text is clean and unmarked with no foxing and arranged in 22 sections with finger tabs similar to a dictionary. Former owner attribution on frontispiece dedication page.B/W photo of General Douglas MacArthur frontispiece with this dedication: "This Wartime Edition of the American Woman's Cook Book is respectfully dedicated with affection and gratitude to General Douglas MacArthur. His heroic leadership and gallant fight against overwhelming odds should inspire every American woman to make the most of daily opportunities to support the war effort in her home and in every sphere of worthwhile war activity. There must be thousands of little… Read More