Cleland, Elizabeth
A New and Easy Method of Cookery
£3,780
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 19 June 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
Treating I. Of Gravies, Soups, Broths, etc. II. Of Fish, and their Sauces. III. To Pot and Make Hams, Etc. Iv. Of Pies, Pasties, etc. V. Of Pickling and Preserving. Vi. Of Made Wines, Distilling and Brewing, etc. Edinburgh: for the author by W. Gordon, C. Wright, S. Willison and J. Bruce: and sold at her house in the Luckenbooths, 1755. First edition, 8vo, [12] 204 pp., contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, contemporary ownership inscription ‘Janet Miller Novbr 15 1774’ to front free endpaper, later inscription ('Janet Miller was for years house keeper at Dr Erskine's & died in the house') below, Janet Miller's ownership inscription repeated on title-page, laid-in manuscript note addressed to Mrs Erskine containing a receipt for pease pudding, binding worn and soiled, leather on spine largely perished, contents toned, occasional light spotting and soiling, marginal damp-staining to title-page and contents leaves, more extensive damp-staining to final gathering
Provenance
From the library of the late Robert Bogdan (1950-2023), of Boghead of Torries and Dykehead of Avochie, Aberdeenshire, geography master at Charterhouse and sometime chairman of the Scottish Castles Association.
Footnote
Very rare: no other copy traced in auction records. The author appears to have run a cookery school in Edinburgh, the work being described on the title-page as ‘chiefly intended for the benefit of the young ladies who attend her school’. A third edition appeared in 1770.