Bound in the original soft card wraps, marbled paper covering, with cloth spine, title page is beautifully engraved w. Engraver borough with a swirling wsan and birds. The stitched binding is holding well, there si a short 2 inch split to the foot of the spine cover. All pages are neatly written and clean. (please view pictures) all holding well together.
beautifully written, each recipe is titled and well explained. Apart from the interest in the recipes, some of the utensils used and terms are a joy to read. The use of the 'dutch oven' (a cast iron pot with a lid which hung above the fire, looks rather like a witches cauldron) the open fire, the hair sieve and jelly glasses etc. I do believe that this was probably written by the 'lady of the house' for the kitchen staff to use it is so wlel penned, the english is excellent and the writing extremely neat and precise. Occasionally there are comments like, this is very good or this is heavy, or we have the right size glasses fro this. The recipes aer clear and concise and easy to follow, with most of the ingredients in lbs and ounces, pints & quarts. (mrs isabella beeton published her 1st large book in 1861, some twenty one years after this was written). A total of 155 recipes which span over 76 pages. Most of them are agthered into groups ie. Cakes, puddings, wines, meat dishes etc. Some of the names are quite familiar, others are not, ' to pot wheatear. The wheatear is a native british bird which is quite rare now, but back in the 1800's it was captured in the 1000's and considered a rgeat delicacy for the table. It is hard to believe that theer were so many of them around at that time. I believe this manuscript was written in sussex, some of the recipes refer to alfriston, wilmington and eastbourne, perhaps that is why the recipe for wheatears is included. At the rear of the book are a few medicinal recipes for complaints like scurvy, the ague and teh gravel. Bread pudding, sago pudding, baked apple pudding, orange pudding, vermacella pudding, suet pudding, potatoe pudding, batter pudding, bread suet pudding, plumb pudding (very good), harvest supper pudding, msall baked puddings. Potatoe pudding with meat, baked bread pudding, custard pudding, sponge pudding, calves feet jelly, a trifle, lemon syllabubs, whip syllabubs, lemon cream, boiled custard, white blanc mange. To maek blanc monge (with moss). Dutch blanc monge, lemon cheese cakes, curd cheese cakes, potatoe cheese cakes, german puff, cheese cakes, to preserve peaches, french butter, harlequin eggs, yellow ej monge, yellow sponge, muffin pudding cakes plumb cake, plumb cake for christmas, pound cake, sponge cake. Seed cake, iceing for a cake, lemon rdop cakes, almond cake, rice cakes, coffee cakes. Rusks, soda cake, gingerbread, pan cakes, macaroons. Mince pies, minec meat mrs. Dawes almond tart, green caps codlings? Rock cakes, almond cakes, tea cakes, ratafia drops, water cakes, rolls, yorkshire cakes, ginger cakes. Amonia cakes, orange jelly, biscuit pudding, to make punch, to make mead cakes, to brew strong beer, to make malt wine, plum caek mr. This manuscript is written on handmade watermarked paper dated '1830 t. Take them not washed season them pepper, salt, & mace, bake them in butter one hour, then strain the butter from them and put them down in pots very close, pour clarified butter over them. Pigeons are done the same way, only baked longer. Yellow blanc monge- take 2oz of isinglass to a pint of water set it over a slow fire till it is melted.