Item #27517 The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families. Mrs. Maria Rundell.
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families
The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families

The Experienced American Housekeeper, or Domestic Cookery : Formed on Principles of Economy for the use of Private Families

Hartford, Ct. Andrus & Judd 1835. Later printing. [2], [3]-216 pages. Nine plates including frontispiece and additional engraved title page. Engraved title page has a different title: "The American Domestic Cookery by a Lady" with woodcut of a steer and list of meat cuts with same publisher information. Period leather binding with blindstamped decorations front and rear. Simple gilt tooling and embellishments on the spine. Overall wear, light browning and foxing throughout. Piece missing from front blank flyleaf. A nice, unsophisticated example. Very Good. Boards. [27517]


We find two things charming about this book. One - and we love this - it smells(appropriately) like a smoky open hearth!! Second, the embossed design on the front and rear covers was stamped on the front twice. If it were a coin (double-die) it would be worth a fortune. But here it also offeres some insight into the binding process - the front and rear panels were blindstamped with a single tool which would have required considerable pressure in a press. And material costs being what they were, the leather double strike was allowed rather than discarded, an interesting decision by the binder.

Lowenstein notes in earlier editions of her bibliography (but not in the latest 3rd edition) that this work was based on the same title, published in 1823 (#95), and that earlier entry contained a note that this work was taken from Mrs. Rundell's 'A new system of domestic cookery." While not present in the 3rd edition, we've chosen to retain this attribution, assuming that the renumbering that Lowenstein did for the third edition of the bibliography introduced some inconsistencies,and especially as the earliest entry still retains the attribution. Either way, this example is a much later edition of the work initially printed in 1823, a testament to it's immense popularity.

ref: Lowenstein, E., "Bibliography of American cookery books, 1742-1860" New York: 1972, (3rd ed.), #185.

Price: $450.00

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