1843 The Complete Art of Cookery

Description

Illustrated, Publishers' Original Binding, Scarce

Illustrated with a frontispiece, and with a small number of charming vignette illustrations throughout.

'The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy' was a prominent cookery book that became a bestseller for a century after its publication in 1747. It dominated the English speaking market, and gave the author, Hannah Glasse, much fame.

The popularity of the work was international, with the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin even owning copies, with its popularity surviving the American War of Independence.

In this work, Glasse explains that she used simpler language so that the servants who used the book would be able to understand it.

The work includes one of the first recipe in English for an Indian style curry, and was also the first book to mention a recipe for trifle using jelly as an ingredient, as well as being the first to use the term 'Yorkshire pudding' in print. Glasse also makes use of many imported ingredients, such as cocoa, cinnamon, pistachios, and nutmeg.

Glasse's approach is sometimes confusing, not giving a list of ingredients preceding the recipe, and also often not giving ingredient quantities, or any indication of cooking time of oven temperature. She also has an anti-French approach, disapproving of the French influence on British food, though she still gave ingredients with French names and influence.

About one third of the recipes in this work were copied from other cookery books.

Inscription of H Mussey to the front free endpaper, and former owner's inscription 'Bel' to title page.

Many editions were copied without explicit author's consent, and it is possible that, as this edition is scarce, this was an unauthorised edition.