OP: The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy
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T. Longman, et al, London, 1796. Hardcover. Very Good Minus.
Hannah Glasse’s (1708–1770) The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy (1747) was the bestselling British cookbook for a hundred years, seeing some forty editions and including many “bootleg” copies.
Though heavily plagiarized from earlier cookery books—and, to be fair, it was in turn poached for later works like Mrs. Beeton’s—The Art of Cookery remains one of the most significant cookbooks of its time, even credited by food historian Peter Brears as the first to print a recipe for Yorkshire pudding. Each subsequent edition added new dishes, reflecting the evolution of British cuisine, especially with additions like curry and piccalilli.
Ours is a handsome 1796 copy bound in full leather. The interior is largely clean with some creasing and toning. Ownership signature penciled on the title page. Some tape repairs and marginalia. The final page of the index is neatly cut out. This copy was acquired from famed music journalist June Barsalona (née Harris) who, in turn, acquired it from her friends and antiquarian book dealers Betsy and Timothy Trace.
