Apicius Redivivus; or, the Cook's Oracle [.] being six hundred Receipts, the Result of actual Experiments instituted in the Kitchen of a Physician, for the Purpose of Composing a Culinary Code for the Rational Epicure and Augmenting the Alimentary Enjoyments of Private Families; combining Economy with Elegance; and saving Expense to Housekeepers, and Trouble to Servants [.]

(Kitchiner (William))

Edité par Printed for Samuel Bagster, 1817

A propos de cet article

FIRST EDITION, 2 engraved plates; remnant of some adhesive tape to the gutter (r/v) of the title page, first few quires a little foxed with variable (light) toning throughout. pp. [408], large 12mo; twentieth-century calf, retaining early nineteenth-century panel mounted to front cover bearing name in gilt: S. Dunning Esq.; Influential cookbook by the gastronome, librettist, and amateur optician, William Kitchiner (1775-1827). The Cook's Oracle 'demonstrated Kitchiner's familiarity with the entire process, from shopping, through preparing and serving the dishes, to cleaning up. It was an acknowledged source of inspiration for Mrs Beeton, and was mined by the writers of other household guides' (ODNB). The present work contains one of the earliest recipes for what we now know as crisps or potato chips amongst recipes including Curaçao (made by steeping fine cut Seville orange peel in brandy): 'not merely an agreeable cordial, but an essential friend to the stomach', Hare Soup: 'one of the best ways of dressing an old hare [.] when it is so tough as to defy the teeth in any other form'; and Essence of Ham: 'certainly the very quintessence of ham, but so expensive, it is only attainable by gourmands of the first magnitude'. As a man of independent means, Kitchener was able to devote himself to his three - somewhat unlikely - passions: music, gastronomy, and optics. 'His friend William Jerdan commented: "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"' (ibid.). Indeed, the culinary recipes here are interspersed with those for medicine. Kitchiner was undoubtedly an eccentric: 'In later life he let it be understood that he had been schooled at Eton and held a medical degree from Glasgow; in fact he had not attended either establishment but by claiming a Scottish medical degree, which barred him from practice in England, he could style himself Dr Kitchiner MD, and as he possessed an extensive library of medical books, this title was not challenged' (ibid.). He owned some eighty-nine telescopes and was a serious optician with various inventions and publications to his name, but 'was often accused of plagiarism in his books, and it is true that not all his 'borrowings' were acknowledged' (ibid.). [Cagle 797;

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Apicius Redivivus; or, the Cook's Oracle [.] being six hundred Receipts, the Result of actual Experiments instituted in the Kitchen of a Physician, for the Purpose of Composing a Culinary Code for the Rational Epicure and Augmenting the Alimentary Enjoyments of Private Families; combining Economy with Elegance; and saving Expense to Housekeepers, and Trouble to Servants [.]
• Éditeur: Printed for Samuel Bagster
• Date de parution: 1817
• Catalogues du vendeur:
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