The Cook's Oracle;
Containing receipts for plain cookery, on the most economical plan for private families: also the art of composing the most simple and most highly finished brothers, gravies, soups, sauces, store sauces, and flavouring essences: pastry, preserves, puddings, pickles, etc. Containing also a complete system of cookery for Catholic families. The quantity of each article is accurately stated by weight and measure; being the result of actual experiments instituted in the kitchen. A new edition.
London: for Cadell and Co., 1829 Stock Code: 113405
Notes
Later London edition, uncommon in the original boards, of the most famous of Kitchiner's cookery books, "an acknowledged source of inspiration for Mrs Beeton, and mined by the writers of other household guides" (ODNB). First published in London in 1817, The Cook's Oracle "was written in a down-to-earth style, and demonstrated Kitchiner's familiarity with the entire process, from shopping, through preparing and serving the dishes, to cleaning up" (idem). Kitchiner also styled himself MD, falsely claiming a medical degree from Glasgow; his friend William Jerdan once commented that "his medical and gastronomical practices were wonderfully combined, insomuch that his guests could not tell whether what was set before them was a meal or a prescription" (Jerdan, 282-7). The publisher's advertisement to an American edition published two years later remarked that "numerous notices, in commendation of the work, might be selected from respectable European journals; but the mere fact, that within twelve years, seventy thousand copies of it have been purchased by the English public, is sufficient evidence of its reception and merits".Description
Large duodecimo (190 x 104 mm). Uncut in original paper boards, later gilt-lettered label to spine.
Illustrations
3 short sections of engraved music score for cooking songs.
Condition
With the terminal advertisement leaf. Later library stamp of H. G. Doggett to the initial blank. Extremities rubbed and bumped, joints cracking slightly at head, mild sporadic foxing, the occasional superficial spill-burn. A very good copy.
DELIVERY
With the exception of framed items*, Peter Harrington offers free delivery on all UK orders of rare books, maps and prints placed through this website. Delivery to USA and the rest of the world is similarly free for orders over £200.
ABOUT US
Established in 1969, Peter Harrington is one of the leading rare book firms in the world. It is a proud member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association – along with ILAB, the PBFA and Lapada – and from shops in Mayfair and Chelsea, London, sells rare books, prints and ephemera to customers across the world.
Email: mail@peterharrington.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7591 0220
