A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery Physick and Surgery; for the Use of all Good Wives Tender Mothers and Careful Nurses
17147280London: For Richard Wilkin 1714. Octavo 19 x 12.5 cm. 16 218 13 pages. FIRST EDITION. "Mary Kettilby's collection of cookery recipes and medicinal and home remedies from a tasty "green-pease soop without meat" to gooseberry wine. Households that could not afford French cooks or French cooking came to form a growing audience for books by women that contained unpretentious recipes cut to suit a less costly cloth for pickling and collaring rather than ragouts. Where Hannah Woolley had led plenty of female cooks with their eye on the profitable middle market followed with books like Mary Kettilby's collection of recipes 1714 and Eliza Smith's Compleat Housewife 1734" Colquhoun Taste: The Story of Britain through its Cookery 2015. Kettilby's book purported to be a collective effort: the preface stating that 'a Number of very Curious and Delicate House-wives Club'd to furnish out this Collection'. Maclean however pages 79-82 doubts this and notes that evidence from later editions indicate Kettilby to be the main author. Apart from the Preface there is no introduction of any sort: the recipes follow immediately after the chapter headings. The book is clearly divided into chapters of recipes for food and for remedies but within the chapters there is no definite structure. For example the first chapter begins with six recipes for soups followed by recipes for collared beef 'French-Cutlets' collared mutton stewed pigeons broiled pigeons dressed turbot and then patties 'for a Dish of Fish'. The recipes are given either as goals as 'To make Hogs-Puddings' or as titles sometimes with descriptions as 'A very good Tansy'. Quantities are given in whichever units are convenient as 'a Gallon of grated Bread' 'three Pounds of Currants' or 'nine Eggs'. Often quantities rely on the cook's judgment as 'as much Sugar as will make it very sweet'. Temperatures and timings are given when necessary as 'a cool Oven: Half an Hour bakes it'. Later binding in 19th century style. Half-calf gilt-decorated spine marbled endpapers. The front paste-down contains the bookplates of two significant culinary collections: Thomas Scruggs & Margaret Cook and Marian Hatch. The Hatch bookplate was designed and engraved by British engraver Alfred J. Downey. With the bookseller's ticket of Philip C. Duschnes to the rear pastedown. Ink ownership mark to half-title "1718 Eliseab; and inscription on final page of text "illeg. near New College Oxford". OCLC locates eighteen copies; Bitting page 258; Cagle 789; Maclean pages 79-82; Oxford page 54; Wellcome II page 389. For Richard Wilkin hardcover books
